
aass^3i05i 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



Ube Century }6^ucatfon Series 

PSYCHOLOGY 
AND THE SCHOOL 



BY 

EDWARD HERBERT CAMERON, Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




NEW YORK 

THE CENTURY CO. 

1921 



io5 



^^,C.3 



Copyright, 1921, by 
The Century Co. 



NOV i 6 1921 
g)n!,A627732 

Printed in U. S. A, 



•VV5 / 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

All schools preparing students for the profession of 
teaching, whether Normal Schools or Colleges of 
Education, are agreed that it is fundamentally neces- 
sary for these students to take as an elementary sub- 
ject, practically prerequisite to all other educational 
courses, work in educational psychology. Psychology, 
as it is ordinarily taught in an elementary way, con- 
tains little, if any, special application to the problems 
of teaching. Indeed, the general problem of learning 
is approached in so indefinite a way in most of these 
books that the student who has not worked with 
specific courses of educational psychology is at a loss 
in the discussion of specific problems which have to 
do with the technique of teaching. 

This volume of Professor Cameron's has been pre- 
pared to meet the specific needs of those preparing to 
teach. As it includes a reasonably comprehensive in- 
troduction to psychology, it is possible for students to 
work with this book to advantage, who have not had 
introductory courses in general psychology. It has the 
additional advantage of considering elementary psy- 
chological principles specifically from the standpoint 
of the teacher and the learner. 



VI EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

Throughout the book, technical and theoretical dis- 
cussions are avoided, the primary purposes of the 
author being to give the explanation of the behavior 
of school children in terms of the mental life. This 
volume is presented in the belief that it will be of 
value to colleges and normal schools where there is 
felt to be little demand for the students to take courses 
in general psychology before beginning the specific 
task of the application of psychology to education. 

Charles E. Chadsey. 



PREFACE 

This book is designed for students of education and 
teachers who have no previous knowledge of psy- 
chology. The earlier chapters (I-XI) cover the ground 
usually treated in text-books of general psychology 
but with the emphasis on the application of psy- 
chological principles to education. The remaining 
chapters are more specifically designed to treat the 
applications of psychology to education in some detail. 

The book is written throughout from the functional 
point of view though not leaning to behaviorism in its 
extreme form. 

My obligations to writers are numerous but I have 
endeavored to give proper acknowledgments in each 
case. I am under special obligation to Professor C. H. 
Judd, from whom I have borrowed directly at many 
points, and the influence of whose writings and teach- 
ing pervades the entire book. 

My thanks are also due to my colleagues, Dean 
C. E. Chadsey and Mr. C. W. Kruse, who have read 
the manuscript and offered many criticisms and sug- 
gestions. 

E. H. Cameron. 
Urbana, III, Aug. 10, 1921. 

vii 



CONTENTS 

Chapter I. Introduction pag« 

Psychology defined — Bodily and mental processes — Sen- 
sitivity, conductivity and contractility — Relation of con- 
sciousness to these functions — Unique character of mental 
processes — Methods of psychology — Education defined — 
Relation of education to psychology — Obviating difficulties 
in psychology 3 

Chapter II. The Nervous System 

Behavior — The function of the nervous system — Em- 
bryonic development of the nervous system — Gross struc- 
ture — Elementary structure — The sensori-motor arc — Types 
of sensori-motor arcs — Localization of cerebral functions — 
Physical basis of intelligence — Meaning of infancy — Edu- 
cation and behavior 17 

Chapter III. Behavior — Native and Acquired 

Unlearned activities — Modification of instincts — List of 
human instincts — Fear — Curiosity — Imitation — Play — Con- 
structiveness — Ownership — Rivalry — Habit — Rules of habit- 
formation — Advantages and disadvantages of habit . . 41 

Chapter IV. Sensation 

Sensation defined — Sensations and perceptions — ^Visual 
sensations — Auditory sensations — The static sense — Smell 
and taste — Sensations of touch, warmth and cold — Mus- 
cular sensations — The role of sensation 65 

Chapter V. Perception 

Relation between sensation and perception — the Miiller- 
Lyer illusion — The relating process in perception — The in- 
fluence of past experiences — Space-perception — Habits and 
perception — Perceptual development — Apperception . . 86 

Chapter VI. Memory and Imagination 

The mental image-memory and imagination defined — 
Behavior and mental images — Association — Individual dif- 
ferences in mental imagery — Word imagery — Use of im- 
agination — Training imagination 107 



X CONTENTS 

Chapter VII. Conception page 
Conception defined — Abstract ideas — Words as conceptual 
signs — Analysis of the concept — Development of Concepts 
— Concept of self — Multiple-personality — Hypnosis — Sub- 
consciousness 127 

Chapter VIII. Thinking 

Reflective thinking — Illustrations of problem-solving — 
Analysis of thinking — Training in thinking — Importance 
of imagination in thinking — Inductive and deductive meth- 
ods of teaching — Study and thinking 139 

Chapter IX. Language 

Language a form of muscular reaction — Animal language 
— Natural signs — Conventional signs — Gesture language — 
Speech development — Children's definitions .... 151 

Chapter X. Attitudes — Attention, Feeung and Emotion 

Description of attention — Attention a selective attitude 
— Various forms of attention — Interest — Observation — 
Simple feelings — Learning and feeling — Emotions — Educa- 
tional significance of emotions — Function of emotions — 
The child's emotions 160 

Chapter XL Voluntary Action 

Involuntary action — Purposefulness of voluntary action 
— Inhibition in voluntary action — Ideo-motor action — Sug- 
gestion — Attention in voluntary decision — Voluntary ac- 
tion dependent on involuntary — Deliberation — Choice — 
Ideals — Voluntary life of the child — Training the will . 178 

Chapter XII. Learning 

Perceptual learning — Trial and error learning — Idea- 
tional learning — Learning telegraphy — The learning curve 
— Ploteons — Associative learning — Principles of efficient 
learning 195 

Chapter XIII. Transfer of Training 

Opposed views — Can memory be trained? — Experimental 
evidence — Rugg's experiments — General conclusions — Men- 
tal discipline — Negative transfer — Conditions of transfer . 219 

Chaptbhi XIV. Individual Differences 

Individual differences in physical traits — Distribution of 
intelligence — Overlapping in school grades — Results of edu- 
cational tests — Causes of individual differences — Correla- 
tion of abilities — Necessity for individual instruction . . 229 



CONTENTS 



XI 



Chapter XV. Mental Development pace 

Bodily development — Relation of bodily and mental de- 
velopment — Culture-epoch theory — Stages of development 
— Motor control — Collecting — Play — Attention — Memory 
— Reasoning 247 

Chapter XVI. Reading 

Sensory processes in reading — Motor processes in read- 
ing — Silent and oral reading — Eye-movements — Central 
processes in reading — Individual differences in reading . 264 

Chapter XVII. Spelling 

Motor processes in spelling — Various means of sensory 
impression — Observation of words — Individual differences 
in spelling — ^Value of rules 

Chapter XVIII. Writing 

Writing as "Trial and error" learning — Words written as 
wholes in developed writing — Visual and muscular sensa- 
tions in writing — Muscular activities in writing-rhythm 
— Writing scales 286 

Chapter XIX. Arithmetic 

Numbers as illustrations of abstract thought — Develop- 
ment of number ideas — Counting — Advantages of the Ara- 
bic system — Number operations — Early number ideas of 
children — Objective methods — Drill — Reasoning in arith- 
metic 



Chapter XX. Conclusion 

Biological view of man — Consciousness an adaptive 
tion — Inadequacy of non-conscious action — Role of learn 
ing — Function of language — Education a process of 
cial inheritance 



Appendix 

General Intelligence Test . 
Monroe's Silent Reading Test 
Arithmetic Test . >; 
Index ....>» 



278 



295 




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE PACE 

1 The original neural tube 18 

2 A later stage of development 18 

3 The fully developed nervous system 19 

4 General view of the nervous system, showing its relation 

to other parts of the body 21 

5 Various types of neurones, showing cell bodies of various 

shapes and sizes, together with their branching processes 22 

6 Showing the synaptic connections between neurones and 

the complicated relations arising from such connections 23 

7 A section of the cerebral cortex showing the extreme com- 

plexity 25 

8 Cross section of spinal cord 27 

9 Showing the path of impulses reaching the cortical level 29 

10 Exterior aspect of right hemisphere of cerebral cortex . . 31 

11 Schematic representation of nervous system regarded as 

made up of three levels of sensori-motor arcs ... 35 

12 Showing relative development of fore-brain, mid-brain and 

hind-brain in the various orders of animals from am- 
phioxus to man 36 

13 Diagrammatic section of the human eye 68 

14 Diagrammatic section of the retina 69 

15 Circular arrangement of colors representing complementary 

colors at opposite ends of diameters 73 

16 Structure of the ear 79 

17 Diagrammatic representation of the basilar membrane and 

organ of Corti 80 

18 The MUUer-Lyer illusion 87 

19 Diagram to show the presence of the blind spot and per- 

ceptual "filling in" 90 

xiii 



xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE PACK 

20 The actual height of the figure of the boy is the same as 

that of the man 96 

22 Illustrations of visual forms of days in the week and of 

numbers 121 

24 Curve showing effect of practice with the MUlIer-Lyer 

illusion 196 

25 Curves of learning in mirror drawing 200 

26 Curves of learning to send and receive telegraphic messages 204 

27 Separate curves of learning for letters, words, and connected 

discourse in receiving telegraphic messages .... 206 

28 Distribution curve for Table II 231 

29 Form of curve to which Fig. 28 would approximately con- 

form if an indefinitely large number of cases were taken, 
and the units of height were very small .... 231 

30 Distribution of the intelligence quotients of 112 kinder- 

garten children as measured by the Stanford revision of 
the Binet-Simon scale 232 

31 Distribution curve of the intelligence quotients of 586 eighth- 

grade children of Decatur, Illinois, as measured by the 
Illinois intelligence examination 234 

32 Showing overlapping of intelligence of Illinois school chil- 

dren in Grades IV, VI and VIII 236 

33 Curves showing the interest of boys and girls at various 

ages in toys, ball games and games of chase .... 259 

34 Showing eye-fixations of an adult reader in three lines of 

print 269 

35 Showing eye-fixations during silent reading of a slow reader 

in the fourth grade who has been shown by tests to have 
poor ability to comprehend what he reads .... 270 

36 The upper curve shows the distribution of the pupils of a 

fifth grade of the public schools of Cleveland, Ohio, in 
rate of oral reading 276 



PSYCHOLOGY 
AND THE SCHOOL 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE 
SCHOOL 

CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTION 

Psychology defined. — Psychology is the science 
that describes and explains conscious processes and 
their relationship to the behavior of man and other 
animals. Any one may know what is meant by a con- 
scious process by appealing to his own experience. As 
long as we are awake, and very often while we are 
asleep, we are conscious, that is, there is a continuous 
stream of perceptions, memories, thoughts, feelings, 
and other sorts of conscious processes passing on within 
us. The sum total of these conscious processes we 
call mind. 

Bodily and mental functions are not separate, — 
While the problem of psychology is the investigation 
of these mental processes, its purpose must not be 
conceived too narrowly. The mind is closely related 
to the body. Conscious processes cannot be properly 
understood and explained without taking bodily 

3 



4 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

processes into account. This close relationship is 
especially apparent when we raise such questions as, 
"What is the mind or consciousness for? What pur- 
pose or function does it play?" In a general way 
the answer to these questions must be that conscious- 
ness exists for the sake of its influence on action. Our 
minds influence our behavior so as to bring us into 
more favorable relationships to our environment. The 
separation of our organisms into mind and body is an 
artificial separation. As they actually exist they are 
indissolubly connected. The mind's functions cannot 
be properly understood without taking into account 
the bodily functions; nor can behavior be fully ex- 
plained without relating it to the conscious processes 
with which it is connected. 

Psychology the only science that includes mental 
processes in its explanations. — There are other sci- 
ences, such as biology, that aim to explain why animals 
behave as they do ; but such sciences do not include con- 
scious processes in their explanations. There is every 
reason to believe that the lower animals share with 
man in having conscious experiences. How far down 
in the scale of animal life we have to go to find animals 
without consciousness cannot be told with exactness; 
but most of the lower forms of life are so similar to 
man in their structure and modes of behavior as to 
imply that they possess some degree or kind of con- 
sciousness. 

The behavior of the simplest animals. — Even the 



INTRODUCTION 5 

lowest forms of animal life, the unicellular organisms, 
perform in a simple manner all the important func- 
tions found in higher kinds of animals. Take, for 
example, the Paramecium, These one-celled micro- 
scopic animals swim around in the water in which they 
live, taking in food which, as in higher forms of life, 
is used for furnishing energy and replacing the waste 
of the body substance. While the Paramecium usu- 
ally swims forward in search of food, it has another 
kind of behavior under certain circumstances. It avoids 
certain situations, such as those caused by obstruc- 
tions or the presence of a drop of salty water intro- 
duced by the experimenter. This reaction of avoidance 
consists of backing up for a short distance and then 
turning in a slightly different direction before proceed- 
ing on its way. 

Sensitivity, conductivity, and contractility. — From 
such a simple account of one of the lowest forms of 
animal life there may be obtained some ideas to guide 
us in our further study. We have, first of all, a living 
organism ( Paramecium) in a certain environment 
(water) in which it lives. The way in which the ani- 
mal behaves is determined by two factors — its own 
nature and the changing conditions of the environment. 
It may be inferred from the observation of the be- 
havior of the Paramecium (1) that it is affected by 
(sensitive to) changes in its environment; (2) that the 
effects of the environmental changes are conducted 
from the part of the animal's body where they are re- 



6 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

ceived to other parts; and (3) that these parts move 
(contract) as a result. These three functions of sensi- 
tivity, conductivity, and contractility are found in all 
living organisms, and are of special concern in the study 
of psychology. Whether the Paramecium has also the 
function of consciousness we can only surmise ; but in 
human beings, where we know that consciousness is 
present, it is always related more or less directly to 
these three functions, sensitivity, conductivity, and con- 
tractility. 

Specialization of functions. — In the unicellular ani- 
mals all these functions are performed by one cell. 
But the multicellular animals are made up of different 
kinds of cells, each with its special function. The cells 
that are specialized for contractility form in the aggre- 
gate the muscular system of higher animals. The cells 
that are specialized for sensitivity are distributed for the 
most part over the surface, of the body, and in some 
cases take the highly specialized forms of sense-organs. 
The cells that are specialized for conductivity taken to- 
gether form the nervous system, and serve to connect 
the sensitive cells with the contractile (muscular) cells. 
The higher in the scale of animal evolution, the more 
numerous and highly specialized these cells become, and 
the behavior is correspondingly more varied. All of 
this development is clearly for the purpose of better 
adaptation of the animal to its environment. 

Relation of consciousness to these functions.— 
Somewhere in the course of this development the addi- 



INTRODUCTTION 7 

tional function of consciousness appears, and is added 
as one link in the chain leading to behavior. It is 
not necessary for our purposes to attempt to discover 
at just what point in animal evolution consciousness 
appears, since it is with the conscious processes of 
human beings that we are mainly concerned. When 
they do appear, however, they are not isolated and 
apart from the rest of the organism. They do not exist 
simply for their own sake, but for the sake of providing 
more successful and varied reactions to the environ- 
mental conditions. 

Mental processes not identical with brain processes. 
— It may, therefore, be stated as a general conclusion — 
which, however, must be left to further study to justify 
fully — that no conscious process occurs without corre- 
sponding bodily changes. Let us take a concrete ex- 
ample. We are continually, in the course of our wak- 
ing life, engaged in seeing objects around us. Let us 
suppose that a moment in consciousness has been de- 
voted to the experience that we call "seeing" a book. 
Every one knows that seeing the book is dependent 
upon some effect that the book has upon the eye and 
the optic nerve leading from the eye to the brain. 
Now, all the changes taking place in the eye, the optic 
nerve, and the brain, are bodily changes and are the 
necessary conditions for the conscious experience of 
seeing the book. Furthermore, the person seeing the 
book is likely to act in some definite way toward the 
book, as when the arm is extended and the hand takes 



8 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

the book. Such an action is, of course, due to a series 
of bodily changes in muscles, nerves, and brain, all of 
which are again related to the conscious experience of 
seeing. 

At this point the student should be warned against 
making the mistake of identifying the conscious process 
with any of its bodily conditions. We often speak 
of brain processes as if they were identical with mental 
processes, and our thoughts are said to be in our heads. 
\t ^ust be remembered, however, that a mental 
process is a unique sort of fact, quite different from the 
physical brain processes. It occurs in the head only 
in the sense that it depends on brain processes that 
take place there. 

Unique character of mental process. — The dis- 
tinction between brain processes and conscious proc- 
esses is well stated in the following quotation from 
Royce: 

Were physiologists better endowed with sense-organs 
and with instruments of exact observation, we can, 
if we choose, conceive them as, by some now unknown 
device, coming to watch the very molecules of our 
brains; but we cannot conceive them, in any possible 
case, as observing from without our pains or our 
thoughts in the sense in which physical facts are ob- 
servable. Were my body as transparent as crystal, or 
could all my internal physical functions be viewed and 
studied as easily as one now observes a few small par- 
ticles eddying in a glass of nearly clear water, my men- 
tal states could not even then be seen floating in my 



INTRODUCTION 9 

brain. No microscope could conceivably reveal them. 
To me alone would these states be known. And I 
should not see them from without; I should simply 
find them, or be aware of them. And what it is to find 
them, or to be aware of them, I alone can tell myself. 

Introspection direct observation of mind. — Psy- 
chology, like any other science, begins by careful obser- 
vation of its facts. Casual observation is seldom accu- 
rate enough to be scientific, and in the case of conscious 
facts we rarely take the trouble to observe them care- 
fully. The conscious experience does not appear to 
exist for its own sake, but rather for the sake of di- 
rectly or indirectly putting us in touch with our sur- 
roundings. Much of consciousness is taken up with 
reporfing to us changes in the world around us, thus 
preparing us for activities suitable to these changes. In 
such cases we are chiefly interested in what conscious- 
ness reflects to us of the external world rather than in 
the nature of the conscious process that reveals this 
knowledge. To observe carefully the conscious process 
as it occurs is therefore somewhat unnatural; but it 
is nevertheless the only method we have of getting first 
hand direct knowledge of consciousness. Such observa- 
tion of one's own conscious processes is called intro- 
spection (literally, "looking within"). 

Mind indirectly observable through behavior. — 
It is clear that one cannot observe the mental processes 
of others by the method of introspection. Indeed, it 
is, as we have seen, one of the distinguishing marks 



10 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

of conscious processes that they belong to the individ- 
ual experiencing them, and to him alone. For example, 
if a person is angry, you may infer that such is the case 
from his appearance and behavior ; but the anger itself 
is his experience and directly observable by him only. 
This illustration will serve to show that we can observe 
the consciousness of others only indirectly through the 
observation of their behavior. 

Both methods necessary. — The direct and indirect 
methods of observing consciousness must go hand in 
hand and supplement each other. Introspection is un- 
natural until we have had much practice, and even 
after much practice is difficult and fails to reveal many 
of the facts. On the other hand, the facts obtained by 
the method of indirect observation frequently have to 
be interpreted in the light of what is known of one's 
own experience gained through introspection. 

Illustration from child psychology. — The relation 
between these two methods of observation is well 
brought out by a reference to a special field of psychol- 
ogy, which has a vital relation to education, viz., child 
psychology. To observe the facts of the child's con- 
sciousness is possible only through the observation of 
his many forms of behavior. Even in those cases where 
the child is old enough to describe his own conscious 
processes by means of speech, it must be remembered 
that speech is, from the point of view we are now tak- 
ing, merely a form of behavior. This may introduce 
an error into the conclusion if great care is not taken 



INTRODUCTION 11 

in the interpretation of the child's behavior, since in 
many cases it is difficult to think oneself back into the 
consciousness of one's own childhood. The adult's and 
the child's behavior may be very much alike in some 
respects, but it would be unwise to jump to the con- 
clusion that the conscious process back of the behavior 
is the same in the two cases. A child a month old may 
smile in response to the smile of his mother or nurse 
in much the same way as would an adult under similar 
circumstances; but it is absurd to suppose that a child 
of that age has any such realization of the significance 
of his behavior as has the adult. 

Explanation by analysis. — To explain a fact is to 
make it clear by showing the conditions under which 
it makes its appearance. The various sciences use 
various methods of explanation. Thus the chemist may 
show the conditions under which water makes its ap- 
pearance by analyzing it into its constituent elements of 
hydrogen and oxygen. Analysis of complex mental 
processes into their elements is one of the chief meth- 
ods of explanation in psychology. It is, of course, im- 
possible to analyze a mental process into simpler 
elementary parts that can be actually separated from 
one another, as can the hydrogen and oxygen of water. 
Nevertheless, the analysis of a mental process may take 
place by merely observing the various constituent ele- 
ments, just as one may observe the various parts of a 
complex piece of machinery without taking the ma- 
chinery apart. 



12 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

Explanation by bodily conditions. — A second 
method of explaining psychological processes is by re- 
lating them to the various bodily conditions with which 
they are connected. The physiological processes con- 
nected with the eye help to explain the conscious ex- 
perience of seeing, since the former is a condition of the 
latter. The relationship between bodily processes and 
mental processes is much wider than would be sup- 
posed without special study, and to trace the details 
of these relationships constitutes one of the most im- 
portant tasks of modern psychology. 

Relation of psychology to teaching. — It may be 
safely said that no teacher can fail to understand both 
the child and the nature of the learning process bet- 
ter for having acquired a knowledge of the fundamental 
principles of psychology. We all possess in a greater 
or less degree glimmerings of psychological knowledge 
that we have not been taught by books; but in order 
that we may not make mistakes we need a precise 
knowledge of the facts and laws of mind in general, 
and especially of the mind of the child of school age. 
While a teacher may perhaps be a good teacher with- 
out knowing psychology, he cannot afiford to neglect 
the sciences that underlie the art of teaching, any more 
than the physician can afford to neglect physiology and 
anatomy, however much native skill he may have in 
the art of healing. 

Education defined. — When we speak of education 
we usually refer to certain effects on the child produced 



INTRODUCTION 13 

by teachers and schools. A little reflection, however, 
will show that these effects are not different in kind 
from many of the changes brought about in the chUd 
by his life outside of school. The child is by nature a 
learner; that is, every experience he undergoes leaves 
its effect, however small it may be, and he will act 
differently in the future because of the experience. 
Broadly speaking, education is the sum total of the 
conscious changes effected in a child by his environ- 
ment, and the evidence of this education is the way 
in which he acts in the various situations in which he 
finds himself. 

Environment produces the educative effects. — But 
the environment of the child is very complex and va- 
ried. It includes not only the natural physical objects, 
such as land and water, trees and stones, sky and stars, 
but objects made by man's hands — buildings, machin- 
ery, and works of art. It includes also other persons 
and what they say and do and have written — language, 
science, history. In a word, the child's environment 
consists of everything outside of himself that affects 
him in such a way as to change his behavior. 

Psychology the scientific foundation for education. 
— It is the task of the educator to place the child in 
the best environment to insure the greatest possible 
efficiency in meeting his life's needs and those of his 
fellow man. In education, in the narrower sense 
of the word, there is a conscious selection of the en- 
vironmental forces that are supposed to be most fa- 



14 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

vorable for the child's development. This task can 
be successfully accomplished only when we know what 
the child's nature is to begin with, and what effects 
may be expected from the experiences through which 
he passes. It is the purpose of psychology to investi- 
gate such conditions and effects, and to show how and 
why the child responds to the various environmental 
forces. 

Necessity of clearly understanding terms. — There 
are a few errors to which the beginner in psychology is 
prone that may perhaps be avoided if they are 
clearly pointed out at the start. Much of the confusion 
that sometimes comes upon the student is due to lack 
of understanding terms. We are continually using such 
terms as perceive, imagine, remember, think, and the 
nouns corresponding to these verbs, in our ordinary 
conversation. The psychologist uses these same terms, 
but in a technical sense that is more precise than the 
meaning given in every-day speech. If the student, 
however, neglects the more precise meaning of the psy- 
chological terms simply because of his familiarity with 
their meanings as commonly used, he is very likely to 
fall into error and confusion. Try, therefore, to dis- 
cover the precise meaning of all psychological terms 
as they are met in the succeeding pages. The attempt 
is made to define each term as it appears. No such 
hard and fast definitions, however, can do justice to 
the facts. They should be regarded merely as starting- 
points in the description of the processes involved. 



INTRODUCTTION 15 

Confusion of brain processes with mental processes. 
— Another source of trouble to the student beginner 
of psychology is often the confusion of conscious proc- 
esses with brain processes. This is the more likely 
to be the case since the introduction to the study of 
psychology is usually made through a description of the 
nervous system, a plan that will be followed in our 
own treatment of the subject. We have already 
pointed out in a general way the justification for in- 
troducing this material, which is, strictly speaking, 
physiological, into a text-book on psychology. A knowl- 
edge of the nervous system helps us to explain the 
facts of consciousness. The psychologist is, therefore, 
interested in the nervous system not so much for its 
own sake as for the light it throws upon consciousness. 

Difficulty of the introspective point of view. — A 
third source of diflBculty is inherent in the nature of 
psychology itself. It is the difficulty of adopting the 
psychological or introspective point of view. As has 
already been pointed out, it is not usual to observe 
conscious processes carefully, because they seem to be 
but a means to an end. We see and hear things, not 
for the sake of the seeing and hearing experiences them- 
selves; rather are we interested in the objects reported 
to consciousness and in adopting the appropriate be- 
havior toward these objects. Observation of seeing 
and hearing as conscious processes is, therefore, some- 
what difficult because unusual. The student should 
practise introspection. Stop two or three times in the 



16 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

course of the day and try to observe what is passing 
through your mind. Try to verify descriptions of this 
book in your own experience. 

REFERENCES 

Angell, J. R. Psychology. Chapter I. (Holt, 1910.) 

Bagley, W. C. The Educative Process. Chapters I, 
II. (Macmillan, 1906.) 

CoLviN, S. S. The Learning Process. Chapter I. 
(Macmillan, 1911.) 

James, W. Talks to Teachers. Chapters I-IV. (Holt, 
1904.) 

PiLLSBURY, W. B. The Essentials of Psychology. Chap- 
ter I. (Macmillan, 1911.) 



CHAPTER II 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 

Meaning of behavior. — Behavior, in the last an- 
alysis, is merely muscular action, sometimes relatively 
simple, sometimes complex, sometimes resulting in 
movement, sometimes in lack of movement by the bal- 
ancing of the contracted muscles against one another.^ 
But the muscles do not act of their own accord: they 
act more or less directly in relation to the functioning 
of the sensitive parts of the body. The entire surface 
of the body is sensitive to objects coming into contact 
with it, and the higher animals have special sense- 
organs capable of responding to such environmental 
changes as those that occur in the form of ether waves 
and air waves. 

General purpose of the nervous system. — The 
nervous system is a mechanism for connecting sensitive 
parts of the body with muscles, so that the animal's 
behavior may be made in relation to what is happening 
in its environment. An environmental happening 
that actually affects a sensitive part of the body is 
called a stimulus. The stimulus, by its effect on the 

* The term behavior is sometimes used, as by Thomdike, to mean 
the whole series of organic activities (including conscious processes) 
that lead to muscular action. 

17 



18 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



sense-organ, produces a nervous impulse, which passes 
through the nervous system and discharges into the 




|MlD .^*<^il^ii>^ 1 

•Fore Brain — ^Brain J-Hino Brain 1 

\ 



I 



Fig. 2. 
FiQ. 1. Tbe original neural tube. Fig. 2. A later stage of devel- 
opment. The figure shows the chief structures of the fore-brain, mid- 
brain and hind-brain. (After Lickley.) 

muscle. The main purpose of this chapter is to show 
some of the typical ways in which the muscles and 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 19 

sense-organs are connected in man, or, in other words, 
to trace the paths that nervous impulses travel. Be- 
fore this can be done, however, it will be necessary to 
describe the nervous system as a whole and the various 
parts of which it is composed. 

Embryonic development of the nervous system. — 



CORPORA 
QUAORIGEniNA 




Fig. 3. The fully developed nervous system. The drawing exag- 
gerates the separation between the fore-brain and hind-brain, in order 
to show the mid-brain. 



Very early in the life of the human embryo the nerv- 
ous system consists of a hollow sac filled with liquid 
and occupying a position corresponding to the middle 
of the back. The end of this tube toward the head 
expands to form three bulbs, as shown in Fig. 1, and 
these bulbs become eventually the fore-brain, mid- 
brain, and hind-brain of the developed nervous sys- 
tem. The walls of this tube thicken, the liquid is 



20 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

largely though not wholly absorbed, and the tube be- 
comes more or less twisted in the course of its growth. 
This twisting is due chiefly to the very great develop- 
ment of the fore-brain region, which presses back and 
over the mid- and hind-brain regions, as shown in Fig. 
2. By the time of birth the whole structure has at- 
tained the appearance shown in Fig. 3 on page 19. 

Gross structure of the nervous system. — Fig. 4 
presents a view of the nervous system in relation to the 
other parts of the body. It consists of (1) the brain 
(that portion of the nervous system within the bones 
of the skull) ; (2) the spinal cord, which runs the length 
of the back from the brain downward, and (3) the 
nerves, which spread from the spinal cord and base 
of the brain to all parts of the body. 

Figures 2 and 3 show the chief structures of the 
fore-, mid-, and hind-brain regions. The fore-brain 
consists of the cerebrum, the uppermost portion, and 
the" thalamus, which is below and completely hidden by 
the cerebrum when viewed from the exterior as rep- 
resented in Fig. 3. The mid-brain region, which is 
relatively very small, consists of the corpora quad- 
rigemina (behind) and the crura (in front). The mid- 
brain is, in fact, completely enveloped by the cere- 
brum, as in Fig. 4. Fig. 3 exaggerates the degree of 
separation between the various regions in order to 
show the relation of the parts. The hind-brain con- 
sists of the cerebellum, at the back of the head; the 
pons, at the front, and the medulla, a thickened por- 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 



21 



tion of the spinal cord at the point where it enters the 
skull. All of the structures of the brain below the cere- 




Fio. 4. General view of the nervous system, showing its relation 
to other parts of the body. The figure shows a section of one of 
each pair of spinal nerves, which radiate to all parts of the body. 
The cerebral nerves, attached to the base of the brain, are not shown 
in the figure. (From Angell, by permission of Henry Holt and Com- 
pany.) 

brum may be referred to collectively as the basal ganglia. 
Elementary structure of the nervous system. — The 



22 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 




from the 

Pig. 5. Various types of neurones, showing cell bodies of various 
shapes and sizes, together with their branching processes. (From 
Angell, by permission of Henry Holt and Company.) 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 23 

nervous system, like other parts of the body, is com- 
posed of cells. The nerve-cell, or neurone (Fig. 5), 
however, differs from other cells by having attached 
to the main cell-body thread-like branching fibers which 
extend from it in various directions. Some of these 




Fig. 6. Showing the synaptic connections between neurones and 
the complicated relations arising from such connections. (Modified 
from Judd.) 

fibers are extremely short, while others are several feet 
long. The nerves shown in Fig. 4 are composed of 
many of these longer fibers bundled together, each 
fiber in the bundle being a part of a different neurone. 
The synapse. — No neurone acts independently: it 
always acts in conjunction with other neurones. The 
fibers end in very fine branches, and the branches of 



24 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

fibers belonging to one neurone come into contact with 
the branching fibers of other neurones (Fig. 6). The 
point of contact is known as the synapse. The fibers 
do not grow together at this point, but merely inter- 
lace one another. The neurones, by virtue of these con- 
nections, form systems of greater or less complexity. 
In any given action of the nervous system, therefore, 
more than one neurone is concerned. 

The sensori-motor arc. — The entire path of a 
nervous impulse (consisting of a system of intercon- 
nected neurones) is sometimes referred to as a sensori- 
motor path or arc. It is called sensory because it has 
its origin in a sense-organ (eye, ear, skin, and so forth). 
It is called motor because it ends in a muscle and is 
concerned in the movement of the muscle. The hyphen 
indicates that the entire structure from beginning to 
end is in reality one mechanism and functions in a 
unitary way. 

Gray matter. — In many parts of the nervous sys- 
tem the cell-bodies are grouped closely together, giv- 
ing these parts a characteristic grayish appearance. 
Such fibers as are present here are very short, so that 
the bulk of the material is composed of cell-bodies. 
Gray matter is found especially in the outside portion 
of the cerebrum (known as the cortex) and in the in- 
side portion of the spinal cord. The cortex in the 
human cerebrum, although only an eighth to a quar- 
ter of an inch thick, is extremely complex, as shown 
in Fig. 7. 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 



25 




Fig. 7. A section of the cerebral cortex showing its extreme com- 
plexity. (From Thorndike's Psychology, by permission of the author.) 



26 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

White matter. — The fibers of the various neurones 
also are grouped together to a large extent, and make 
up the white matter of the nervous system. The white 
matter forms the greater bulk of both the cerebrum and 
the other structures in the brain that lie below the 
cerebrum. It forms also the outer portion of the spinal 
cord. The nerves shown in Fig. 4, as well as the white 
matter of the central nervous system, are composed of 
bundles of fibers. It must be remembered that no fiber 
is ever detached, but each forms a part of some neurone 
the cell-body of which lies more or less distant from it. 

Types of sensori-motor arcs. — For the purpose of 
our study the nervous system may be regarded as 
being made up of two types of sensori-motor arcs: (1) 
a relatively simple type in which nervous impulses do 
not pass to the cerebral cortex but are confined to the 
level of the spinal cord and basal ganglia; (2) a much 
more complex type in which the impulses pass through 
the cerebral cortex. 

Sensori-motor arcs of the first level. — Let us ex- 
amine the simple type first. This may most readily 
be done by a reference to the structure and function 
of the spinal cord. A cross-section of the spinal cord 
is represented in Fig, 8. The outer portion is white 
matter; the inner butterfly-shaped portion is gray mat- 
ter. It will be noted from Fig. 4 that at various in- 
tervals nerves run into the spinal cord. The nerves, 
as we have seen, are composed of fibers. Some of the 
fibers are connected with the sensitive portions of the 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 



27 



skin; others are connected with the muscles. The 
fibers connected with sensitive parts of the body are 
known as sensory fibers; those connected with the 
muscles are known as motor fibers. Both sensory and 
motor fibers from the same general region of the body 
are bundled together and pass to the spinal cord in 
the form of nerves. All of the sensory fibers pass to 




Fig. 8. Cross section of spinal cord. The nervous impulse is rep- 
resented by the arrows as passing from a sensory surface of the 
skin across the gray matter of the cord to the muscles at the right. 



the back of the spinal cord and enter the gray matter 
there on either the right or the left of the cord. The 
motor fibers enter the front of the gray matter of the 
cord either to the right or the left. 

Neurones constituting the gray matter between the 
front and the back of the cord serve to bring the motor 
and the sensory neurones together by means of synap- 
tic connections with each. Hence numerous complete 
sensori-motor paths are made, beginning in some sen- 
sitive portion of the skin, and continuing by a sensory 



28 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

fiber to the gray matter at the back of the cord, thence 
through the gray matter of the cord to the motor fiber 
at the front part of the cord, and thence to some mus- 
cle. Sometimes the connection is made between sen- 
sory and motor neurones on the same side of the body 
— sometimes on the opposite side. Again, sometimes 
the connection is made at a point higher up or lower 
down than the point at which the sensory fiber enters 
the cord. These are the simple sensori-motor paths of 
the spinal-cord level. 

Every sensitive point of that portion of the body 
below the head has in this way a connection through 
the spinal cord with various muscles. The diagram, 
for example, may be taken to represent what hap- 
pens when a sleeping person's right hand is tickled by 
the presence of a fly. The nervous impulse aroused 
finds its way by the course marked by the arrows back 
to the muscles of the other hand, and the movement 
of brushing away follows almost immediately. Such 
movements are known as reflex actions. 

The special senses in the head are not connected with 
the spinal cord, but send their nerves directly to the 
structures at the base of the brain which we have 
called the basal ganglia. Here they find connections 
with motor neurones in a similar way to that which we 
have described as taking place in the spinal cord. Re- 
flexes, like those of the opening and closing of the pupil 
of the eye in response to the amount of light, are 
brought about in this way. 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 



29 



Higher conduction paths. — One essential function 
of the spinal cord and basal ganglia has not been con- 
sidered up to this point. The white matter of these 
structures contains many fibers that pass upward to 




Fig. 9. Showing the path of impulses reaching the cortical level. 
Di. Sensory portion of skin. D. Sensory nerve cell body. C. Muscles. 
A. Cerebral cortex. (After Cajal.) 

the cerebral cortex, as shown in Fig. 9, By means of 
these every sensitive portion of the body has connec- 
tion with some part of the cerebral cortex. A nervous 
impulse originating in the foot, for example, may in 
some instances be deflected from the immediate path 



30 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

to the muscles through the cord, and may take a round- 
about path through the cerebral cortex. When the 
neural impulse takes this longer path it follows a sen- 
sori-motor arc of one of the higher levels. Most of the 
fibers that pass to the cortex cross over from one side 
of the body to the other somewhere in their course, 
thus bringing the left hemisphere into functional rela- 
tionship with the right side of the body, and vice 
versa. 

Neither the sensory nor the motor fibers that reach 
the cortex are scattered confusedly, but each group of 
fibers belonging to any one of the various senses, e. g., 
vision, hearing, and so forth, passes to definitely lo- 
calized areas in the cortex. It will be well to indicate 
the position of these areas at this point in our descrip- 
tion. 

Sensory areas of the cerebral cortex. — Fig. 10 rep- 
resents the outer surface of the right hemisphere, the 
front lying to the right and the back lying to the left 
of the page. The entire surface of the cerebrum is 
covered with folds or convolutions, so that if spread flat 
it would occupy about thirteen times as much space as 
it actually covers. The fissures are still deeper clefts 
in the cerebral structure, and those of Sylvius and 
Rolando will aid us in locating the various areas. 

It will be seen from the figure that an area near the 
back part of the cerebrum is the visual area; that is, 
all of the sensory fibers reaching the cerebral cortex 
that are connected with vision are functionally related 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 



31 



to the cell-bodies in this area. A similar area receiv- 
ing the auditory sensory impulses is found in the tem- 
poral region of the brain below the fissure of Sylvius. 
The sensory areas for smell and taste are on the inner 
side of the cerebral hemisphere, and hence cannot be 




OTA 



Fig. 10. Exterior aspect of right hemisphere of cerebral cortex. 
V. Visual sensory area. H. Auditory sensory area. B. Sensory area 
for touch, etc. M. Motor area. A.P. Association area. O.T.A. As- 
sociation area. A.F. Association area. I. Association area disclosed 
to view by separating Fissure of Sylvius. R. Fissure of Rolando. 
(Modified from Angell after Flechsig.) 

shown in this figure. The important area just behind 
the fissure of Rolando is the sensory area for the senses 
whose end organs are in the skin and muscles (touch, 
temperature, and muscular senses). The visual, audi- 
tory, and touch areas also overlap on the inner surface 
to a certain extent. 

Motor areas. — Besides these sensory areas there 



32 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

are other areas in the cortex, which may be described 
as motor. The motor areas occupy a position imme- 
diately in front of the fissure of Rolando. These are 
the areas from which the motor fibers pass on their 
way to the lower parts of the brain and spinal cord and 
thence to the muscles. Just as each sensitive portion 
of the body is represented by a point in one of the 
sensory areas of the cortex, so every muscle is connected 
with a point in this motor area. In general, the mus- 
cles of the lower part of the body are connected with 
the cells in the upper part of the motor area, and 
those of the upper part of the body are connected with 
the lower centers, with the centers for the middle 
part of the body lying between. 

Association areas. — It will be noticed that there 
are large areas in the cortex that are neither sensory 
nor motor. These are known as association areas. 
One of the most important of these areas lies directly 
in front of the cerebrum, and is known as the frontal 
association area. Another is in the general region be- 
tween the auditory and visual areas, and is known as 
the parietal association area. The association areas 
are those portions of the cerebral cortex in which 
the various sensory impulses combine on their way to 
the motor area. In this way, provision is made for 
sensory impulses of various kinds to issue in a single 
movement, because they have become united in the 
association areas before passing onward to the motor 
areas. To take a simple example, the nervous impulses 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 33 

aroused by simultaneously seeing and touching a book, 
after having arrived at their respective sensory areas, 
become combined in the association areas, and any 
activity that may result comes from the combined ac- 
tion of the two groups of impulses. On a subsequent 
occasion either the visual or the tactual stimulus alone 
might arouse a nervous impulse, which would follow 
the same path through the association areas and have 
similar motor results. 

Sensori-motor arcs of the higher level. — We are 
now ready to describe the entire course of sensori- 
motor paths of the higher level. These paths at their 
origin are identical with those of the lower level, and 
pass by the same neurones as do they to the spinal 
cord or to the basal ganglia. Instead, however, of 
coming into direct connection in these regions with 
the motor neurones, the nervous impulse follows a 
longer path up the spinal cord or the basal ganglia, 
or both, to the appropriate area in the cerebral cortex. 
From this point the nervous impulse passes to the 
motor area by way of an association area. From the 
motor area the impulse passes downward to the mus- 
cles that are to respond to the stimulus. The lower 
portion of the motor path is, therefore, also identical 
with that of the lower-level arcs. The sensori-motor 
arcs of the higher level are thus built on the plan of a 
loop on those of the lower level. 

Sensori-motor arcs of an intermediate level. — 
While the two levels of sensori-motor arcs that have 



34 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

been described give a general idea of the nervous sys- 
tem in its functioning, many details are omitted. 
There is reason to believe, for example, that a system 
of sensori-motor arcs exists intermediate between those 
of the two levels already described. It is known that 
there is a relatively small number of motor cells in 
and around some of the sensory areas in the cortex, 
especially the areas for vision and touch. Some im- 
pulses that have reached the sensory areas, therefore, 
find their way back to the muscles without going 
through the association areas. When this happens the 
resulting action is of the kind known as sensation re- 
flexes. Examples of sensation reflexes are sneezing, 
coughing, turning of the head and eyes in the direc- 
tion of flashes of light. Such actions are accompanied 
by vague consciousness of the stimulating object, but 
follow the stimulus immediately in a similar manner 
to the reflexes of the lower level. 

If we add this type of sensori-motor arc to our list, 
the entire nervous system may be represented by the 
accompanying diagram (Fig. 11), each level of arcs 
being represented by a loop on the one next below it. 
The lowest level is relatively simple and consists of 
few neurones; the action resulting is direct and has no 
connection with consciousness. The third-level arcs, 
on the other hand, are very complex, involve many 
neurones, and the action is delayed and fully conscious. 
The second-level arcs occupy an intermediate position 
in all these respects. 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 



35 



Brain weight and intelligence. — The characteristic 
accompaniment of consciousness belongs, as far as we 
know, only to the functioning of those sensori-motor 

/^ssociai'ion areas 



Level 3. Higher mental 
processes 



Level 2. Sensation 
reflex 



Level I. Keflex 




''-Cerebral corteX 
not includia^ 
assoclatioa areas 



^ray matter of 
spinal cord, or 
of basal ganglia 



Muscle 



Sensory sur|ac« 



Fig. 11. Schematic representation of nervous system regarded as 
made up of three levels of sensori-motor arcs. 



paths of the higher levels, which reach the cerebrum, 
and this fact is what gives the brain its significance 
as the organ of intelligence. In the course of animal 
development the brain becomes increasingly heavier 
as intelligence increases. The following table shows 



36 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



the increase in brain weight relatively to bodily weight 
among the vertebrates, from fishes to man : 



Fishes 

Reptiles. . . 

Birds 

Mammals. 

Ourang 

Man 



5,000 

1,500 

220 

180 

120 

50 



The cerebrum and intelligence. — Large as this in- 
crease in the relative brain weight is as we go upward 




Fig. 12. Showing relative development of fore-brain, mid-brain 
and hind-brain in the various orders of animals from amphioxus to 
man. cr, cerebrum: ol, olfactory lobe; cb, cerebellum; m, medulla. 
(After Leconte.) 

in the scale of animal evolution, there is even a more 
marked increase in the size of the cerebrum as com- 
pared with that of the rest of the brain. Fig. 12 shows 
to what an extent this is true, and especially in the 
case of man. The true significance of the relatively 
large cerebral hemispheres in man may be understood 
by a comparison of the way in which the higher and 
lower sensori-motor arcs begin to function. The latter 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 37 

are capable of functioning as soon as the animal is 
born, or soon afterward. They represent fixed modes 
of action that have been inherited by the animal as 
a part of his nervous structure. The sensory and 
motor neurones are organized from the beginning; 
that is, they act as a connected whole. They bring 
about activities which in the long history of the race 
have been useful in a relatively unchanging environ- 
ment. Such actions are usually fixed and invariable. 
The cerebral centers, on the other hand, are extremely 
plastic, that is, capable of being molded. They contain 
many neurones whose connections with other neurones 
have not been made at birth, making possible the or- 
ganization of new sensori-motor paths. What these 
paths shall be depends not so much upon the animal's 
inheritance as upon his own experience. In a word, 
the cerebral hemispheres represent the physiological 
basis for the learning process. 

Meaning of infancy. — It is an interesting fact that 
those animals that can perform at birth, or shortly 
afterward, the larger number of all the activities that 
their life conditions make it necessary for them to 
perform, attain a comparatively low grade of intelli- 
gence. Their actions are comparatively fixed and in- 
variable, and they have little power of learning. On 
the other hand, the relatively large amount of plastic 
material in man's cerebral hemispheres makes the or- 
ganization of new paths not only possible, but neces- 
sary, if his behavior is to be intelligent rather than 



38 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

merely instinctive. The long period of infancy in man 
is thus a period during which education becomes a 
virtual necessity. 

Compare, for example, the life history of such an ani- 
mal as the chick with that of man in this respect. 
The chick, shortly after being hatched, can do prac- 
tically all that the mother hen can do. It is not de- 
pendent for a long period, as is the child, upon its 
parents; the period of its infancy is very short. The 
long period of infancy of the child, however, gives 
him a great advantage over the chick in what he is 
eventually able to do. The chick learns to do little or 
nothing new and has a narrow range of possibilities. 
The child's inborn organized responses are merely the 
beginning points for innumerable activities suitable to 
cope with the varied nature of his future environment. 

Physical basis of intelligence. — While it is true, as 
has been stated, that in the order of development there 
is general relationship of correspondence between intel- 
ligence and the size and weight of the brain, one cannot 
rightly conclude that the intelligence is dependent upon 
these factors in individual cases, although it is prob- 
able that, on the average, more intelligent persons 
have heavier brains than those who are less intelligent. 
Many other factors, such as complexity, quality of the 
finer nervous elements, must enter into consideration; 
and even in these respects it is not possible with our 
present knowledge to say exactly what these physical 
bases of mental capacity are. Doubtless pure and 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 39 

abundant blood supply is of great importance in this 
connection ; for the neurone, like all other cells of the 
body, derives its energy and power of growth from the 
blood. This factor of brain development, fortunately, 
may be controlled to a large extent by proper nourish- 
ment and exercise. 

Brain development. — The number of neurones, or 
nervous elements, in a person's body is fixed at birth 
and does not increase in later life. The development 
that takes place consists simply in an increase in the 
size and complexity of those neurones already present, 
and in the forming of new connections between the 
various neurones. Many of the neurones, especially 
those in the cerebral cortex, are at birth imperfect, be- 
cause they lack certain protective tissues that are es- 
sential to their functioning. The increase of the brain 
in size and weight practically ceases at about the age 
of eight or nine years. 

The purpose of education is to control behavior. — 
One especially important aspect of the nervous sys- 
tem in its relation to education remains to be em- 
phasized. Our study of the nervous system has shown 
that it exists for the especial purpose of bringing about 
muscular activity. Wherever nervous impulses occur 
they are found to pass over sensori-motor arcs to mus- 
cles, and to result in changes of behavior, using this 
term in its widest possible meaning. Some of these 
sensori-motor arcs function without the intervention 
of consciousness. Others, of a higher level, are accom- 



40 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

panied by consciousness when the nervous impulse 
traverses them. In all cases, however, the ultimate goal 
of the process is its transformation into muscular ac- 
tivity. Even consciousness, therefore, seems to exist 
not so much for its own sake as for it relationship to 
behavior. Such considerations tend to put the em- 
phasis in education on training the child to useful and 
correct modes of response rather than on the acquiring 
of a fund of knowledge. This point of view has been 
splendidly brought out by James in his "Talks to 
Teachers" in the following statement: 

Man is an organism for reacting on impressions; 
his mind is there to help determine his reactions, and 
the purpose of his education is to make them numer- 
ous and perfect. Our education means, in short, little 
more than a mass of possibilities of reaction, acquired 
at home, at school, or in the training of affairs. The 
teacher's task is that of supervising the acquiring 
process. 

References 

Angell, J. H. Introduction to Psychology. Chapter 

III. (Holt, 1918.) 
Freeman, F. N. How Children Learn. Chapter II. 

(Houghton Mifflin, 1917.) 
JuDD, C. H. Psychology. Chapters II, III, VI. (Ginn 

1917.) 
MacDougall, W. Physiological Psychology. (Dent.) 



CHAPTER III 
BEHAVIOR— NATIVE AND ACQUIRED 

Unlearned activities. — The relation that conscious- 
ness has to action may perhaps be seen best by a con- 
sideration of behavior that is relatively unconscious. 
All animals are bom capable of performing certain 
activities, and as they grow older the number of these 
unlearned activities increases. The vital processes of 
breathing, digestion, and circulation of the blood are 
present at birth, and continue without any necessity 
of conscious control. From the outset the child re- 
sponds to contact with the lips by the sucking move- 
ment. These and many other activities that the child 
performs without having to learn them are clearly the 
means that nature has taken to insure his survival. 

Physical basis of unlearned activities. — Since mus- 
cles are never active except as stimulated to action by 
the nervous system, we must look for the explanation 
of these unlearned activities in the condition of the 
nervous system. The nervous mechanisms for per- 
forming those activities that are present at birth must 
be there from the beginning, ready to do their work. 
Nervous mechanisms ready to function are organized 
sensori-motor arcs. By an organized sensori-motor 

41 



42 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

path is meant one in which the parts (that is, the neu- 
rones) are so thoroughly connected that they work 
together as a unit. The .synapses that form the con- 
nections between neurones offer varying degrees of 
resistance to the neural impulse. If the resistance is 
igreat, so that the impulse cannot pass readily from 
one neurone to another, the sensori-motor arc is to that 
degree unorganized. In the case of those sensori-motor 
arcs that are the mechanism for bringing about un- 
learned activities, on the other hand, the synaptic con- 
nections offer little or no resistance to the nervous cur- 
rent, because they are inherited in that form. 

Consciousness and organization. — In general, it 
may be said that the better organized is the neural 
mechanism for bringing about any activity, the less 
conscious is its performance. Activities that do not 
have to be learned are made relatively unconsciously. 
This does not mean that no consciousness whatever 
attends the functioning of well-organized sensori-motor 
arcs ; but the activities that result are not initiated and 
guided by consciousness, as seems to be true of other 
classes of movements. The consciousness that accom- 
panies them is usually a consciousness of the move- 
ments having been performed rather than of their being 
about to be performed. The action seems to take place 
of itself, and is then reported to consciousness. It is 
for this reason that this class of actions is often called 
involuntary. 



BEHAVIOR— NATIVE AND ACQUIREli 43 

Automatic activities. — Unlearned activities may 
be classified as automatic, reflex, and instinctive, al- 
though no hard and fast line may be drawn between 
them. Automatic movements consist of the internal 
activities, like those of breathing, circulation, and di- 
gestion, which are present from birth and continue 
without conscious direction throughout our lives. The 
organized sensori-motor arcs controlling the action of 
the heart, lungs, and glands are aroused to action by 
changes within the body itself. Nature has provided 
that these processes should go on independently of con- 
sciousness because of their fundamental importance to 
life. 

Reflex activities. — Reflex actions are simple activi- 
ties following directly upon external stimulation. 
While the sensory excitation for automatic movements 
comes from within the body, that for reflexes comes 
from without. The reflexes include such activities as 
sneezing, coughing, the involuntary winking of the eye 
when an object approaches it, the expansion and con- 
traction of the pupil of the eye with the changing 
intensity of light, etc. Movements that are usually 
automatic or reflex may sometimes be controlled con- 
sciously, as when the breathing movements are checked 
or made faster, or when the eye is winked voluntarily. 
In these cases the movements are brought about by 
higher level sensori-motor arcs than those used when 
the movements are not consciously controlled. The 
reflex and automatic activities are, however, little sub- 



44 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

ject to modification, being fixed responses to fixed con- 
ditions. They are, therefore, of relatively little im- 
portance for education. 

Instinctive activities. — The largest and most im- 
portant class of actions that are made without learn- 
ing is the instinctive. While these are difficult to dis- 
tinguish from the reflexes, they are in general more 
complex and require a longer time for their perform- 
ance. Furthermore, they involve such a large amount 
of purposefulness and are so adequate for the life con- 
ditions of the organism as to give the impression that 
they are guided by intelligence. Nevertheless, it is 
certain that these instinctive activities are as truly 
the result of inherited nervous structure as are the 
simpler reflex and automatic movements. 

The instincts are found in pure form among the 
lower animals to a much greater degree than in man, 
it being agreed by the closest animal observers that 
most of their activity is of instinctive origin and re- 
mains so. Some of the instincts of the lower animals, 
such as, for example, ants and bees, have been studied 
in great detail. The way in which ants and bees re- 
turn to their nests after wandering from them a long 
distance is a matter that awakens our wonder. It 
has been shown, however, that these animals are not 
able to change their route when even very slight 
changes are made in their environment. When a bee's 
nest is turned slightly around, for example, it is un- 
able to find the entrance. 



BEHAVIOR— NATIVE AND ACQUIRED 45 

This illustration shows one of the most striking char- 
acteristics of instincts, namely, their invariableness. 
Instinctive behavior is suited only for relatively fixed 
conditions. A careful observer of animal behavior has 
made the remark that "instinct is that on which you 
can safely bet." Animals of a certain species perform 
their activities in practically the same manner, and 
without having to learn them. Bees, for example, go 
through the process of swarming, making cells, depos- 
iting eggs, etc., all without previous training. Birds 
of a certain species build their nests in a certain way 
and in a certain place, and the manner and place do 
not vary to any great extent. 

Even in the lower animals, however, instinct is fre- 
quently subject to some modification, so that the action 
loses its purely instinctive character. Whenever an 
animal performs an action instinctively for the first 
time, the action is blind ; that is, there is no knowledge 
of the result or the end of the act. But in an animal 
that has memory the subsequent performance of this 
act will be in some degree intelligent; the animal will 
know in advance the end of the action, and its behavior 
may be modified accordingly. In the case of human 
beings, therefore, little of adult behavior can be re- 
garded as purely instinctive. The modification of the 
child's instinctive actions so as to make them suited to 
our educational ideals is an important function of edu- 
cation. The instincts are the stock in trade with which 
the child begins his commerce with the world and 



46 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

which the educator may use as a basis for future be- 
havior. 

Deferred instincts. — The nervous mechanisms for 
bringing about instinctive reactions are not ready in 
all cases to function at birth. Each instinct has its 
time for maturing, and in man a number of the in- 
stincts do not appear in full strength until quite late 
in life, as is the case with the sexual instinct. It is 
important for those who have charge of the training 
of the young to watch for the appearance of the vari- 
ous instinctive tendencies. If these instincts are useful 
forms of response under the conditions of modern so- 
ciety, they should be encouraged; if not, they should 
be suppressed or modified. 

Waxing and waning of instincts. — Many attempts 
have been made to discover the order in which the 
various instincts mature, and to determine the ages at 
which they make their appearance. These attempts 
have been largely unsuccessful. Since the instincts are 
so much subject to modification, it is almost impossible 
to separate the learned from the unlearned activities. 
The time of appearance and order of development of 
instinct is in part determined by the varying circum- 
stances of the lives of different individuals. 

The instinctive fear of dogs, for example, will be 
present in the life of one child at an age when another 
has never been placed in a situation to call it forth. 
On the other hand, it may apparently never be present 
if the circumstances are so favorable that it is modified 



BEHAVIOR— NATIVE AND ACQUIRED 47 

from the beginning. Great differences must be ex- 
pected, therefore, in the time at which instinctive ten- 
dencies manifest themselves. Sometimes they seem to 
appear and disappear suddenly. At other times they 
gradually wax and wane. 

Ways in which instincts become modified. — An in- 
stinctive reaction may often be suppressed or modified 
if the conditions are not present to encourage it when 
it first makes its appearance. In dogs the instinctive 
activity of burying bones has been known to be sup- 
pressed simply by keeping the animal indoors where 
the scratching movements find no encouragement. In 
such cases the scratching may go on for a few days, 
but will eventually cease and probably never appear 
again. Disuse cannot, however, always be counted on 
to be effective, especially when the instinct is very 
strong. In other cases the conditions may be such as 
merely to modify the instinct rather than to suppress 
it entirely. LloycT Morgan has described how chickens 
that were hatched in an incubator followed him in the 
same manner as they would have followed the hen, 
had there been one present. The instinct fastens it- 
self to the most suitable stimulus present at the time 
of its maturing, and continues in this form. Provid- 
ing a substitute stimulus for the natural one, in those 
cases where the instinctive tendency in its original form 
is undesirable, is in many instances the best method of 
dealing with the instinctive tendencies of children. 

Modification of instincts by means of their effects. 



48 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

— It is a fundamental law of the mental life that any 
activity that has pleasurable results tends to be re- 
peated, while one that has unpleasant consequences will 
be repressed. This law holds not only when the agree- 
ableness or disagreeableness of the action is its direct 
effect, but also when it comes as an indirect result. 
For example, dogs undoubtedly derive instinctive satis- 
faction from barking at passing vehicles; but if a dog 
is whipped each time the barking takes place, the dis- 
agreeable results of the whipping are so strongly 
associated with the whole situation that usually the 
barking may be suppressed in this way. Instinctive 
tendencies, may, therefore, be suppressed by associating 
them with disagreeable results, or they may be en- 
couraged by associating them with experiences from 
which pleasure is derived. 

Modification of instincts inevitable. — Since instinc- 
tive actions are a part of man's inherited equipment 
for successfully meeting life's demands, it may be 
questioned whether it is wise to seek to modify in- 
stinctive behavior in the young. Educational writers 
like Rousseau, who urge us to follow nature in educa- 
tion, seem to imply that the child should be allowed 
to follow the natural instinctive tendencies without 
hampering or attempt at modification. It must be re- 
membered, however, that it is not only natural for man 
to act instinctively, but it is also natural and inevitable 
for him to modify his instinctive behavior. It becomes, 
then, a question of whether the child's original instinc- 



BEHAVIOR— NATIVE AND ACQUIRED 49 

tive nature should be changed as a result of haphazard 
experiences, or whether the adult should undertake the 
responsibility of selecting for the child the experiences 
deemed the best for his development. Unless the latter 
is done, all purposeful education must be abandoned. 

On the other hand, it is easy to make the mistake of 
attempting to ignore or utterly repress the child's in- 
stinctive nature. If instincts are not always right, as 
Rousseau seems to imply, it is also true that they are 
not inherently wrong. Man has set for himself stand- 
ards of action which require that he shall not live on 
a purely instinctive level. In so far as the instincts 
conflict with these standards they need to be modified, 
but the instincts themselves could not be ignored even 
if it were desirable. 

List of human instincts. — The number of instinc- 
tive responses in human beings is not small, though, as 
we have seen, they are less likely to remain purely in- 
stinctive than in the case of the lower animals. Among 
the most important of human instincts are fear, anger, 
curiosity, manipulation, play, imitation, constructive- 
ness, ownership, rivalry, fighting, food-getting, gregari- 
ousness and the sexual instinct. Some of these, which 
are oY especial interest and importance in regard to 
education, will be described in the following para- 
graphs. 

Fear. — Fear and curiosity are two opposed instinc- 
tive tendencies of a fundamental kind. The tendency 
to move toward what may be of advantage, and the 



50 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

tendency to move away from what is harmful, are 
present in the lowest species of animals. In man these 
reactions take many different forms and may be ac- 
companied by very complex forms of emotional con- 
sciousness. Purely instinctive fear is likely to make its 
appearance in children in connection with loud and 
sudden noises, darkness, solitude, strange and unfamil- 
iar objects, especially furry animals. The fear of fall- 
ing and the fear of high places are also very common. 
In many children these fears are clearly of instinctive 
origin and not due to unpleasant experiences. Fre- 
quently, however, the fears of young children are due 
to painful experiences of their own, or are suggested 
through imitation of others, especially parents. Among 
the most marked motor effects of fear are changes in 
the rate of breathing and of the heart-beat; running 
away; remaining in a tense attitude without moving 
and crying out. Many fears, especially in younger chil- 
dren, need kind and sympathetic treatment from parent 
and teacher. Fear of dogs, for example, in a child may 
be so strong as to make life miserable, and often time 
alone and a gradually increasing familiarity will suf- 
fice to rid the child of this bugaboo. Shyness is a form 
of fear that occurs frequently in younger children, and 
one that, even under encouraging treatment, fre- 
quently needs a long time to overcome. 

To what extent fear should be used as a motive in 
the training of children is a question of moment, the 
pros and cons of which have been much debated. It 



BEHAVIOR— NATIVE AND ACQUIRED 51 

is clear that the appeal to fear of punishment, espe- 
cially of physical pain, does not furnish a high motive 
for action. On the other hand, the fundamental char- 
acter of such appeals makes them frequently successful 
where higher motives fail, and when judiciously used 
fear may become one of the most useful sources of 
training. It may be questioned whether absolute fear- 
lessness is a desirable characteristic in any individual. 
That sort of refined fear which consists in respect for 
duly constituted authority may easily be undervalued. 
Curiosity. — Curiosity is an expression of a tendency 
quite the opposite of fear. Whereas fear leads to with- 
drawal from that which is feared, curiosity prompts 
action toward the object concerned. Even in those 
cases where the object of the person's curiosity is not 
external but of an intellectual sort, the attitude is the 
same, that is, one of seeking rather than of shunning. 
The strength of this instinct, especially in children, is 
very great. It begins perhaps in the fixed stare of the 
infant a few months of age, and continues in the cease- 
less activity and questioning of a later stage. A fre- 
quent form in which curiosity manifests itself is de- 
structiveness, where the motive is to discover how 
things are made and how they work. At a still later 
period this instinct may take the form of desire to travel 
and to read books of travel. Even some cases of tru- 
ancy may be regarded as due to a sort of migratory in- 
stinct, at the basis of which is the desire to see and 
hear what is new. To keep alive the questioning atti- 



52 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

tude of the child along lines that are of intellectual 
value is one of the great tasks of the educator. Chil- 
dren's problems and questions should be sympathet- 
ically treated, and especially should the spirit of intel- 
lectual inquiry be fostered rather than stifled by appeals 
to authority; for perhaps no other characteristic is so 
indicative of a person's intellectual promise as his de- 
sire to know. 

Imitation. — Imitation, play, and constructiveness 
are closely allied activities of great importance to 
human life and progress. Imitation is one form in 
which a very fundamental psychological law finds its 
expression. It has already been frequently emphasized 
that movements are the normal accompaniments of 
all our conscious processes. When the conscious proc- 
ess is itself the perception of a movement or the idea 
of a movement, the tendency to perform a similar 
movement is especially marked. The imitation of their 
elders by children, together with the transmission of 
ideas through language, which is itself handed down 
from one generation to another through imitation, 
makes for permanence and progress in institutions and 
customs. The lower animals, having practically no 
capacity for either language or imitation, are deprived 
of these means of progress. 

The purely instinctive forms of imitation are prob- 
ably fewer than ordinarily supposed, as Thomdike has 
shown, though a limited number of such activities are 
present from the beginning of life. Babies a few weeks 



BEHAVIOR— NATIVE AND ACQUIRED 53 

old, for example, will smile in response to a smile. It 
must not be supposed that such imitation is in any 
sense consciously directed. The activity comes spon- 
taneously, as when a person yawns and the person who 
observes him does the same. The first words spoken 
by the child are also probably quite largely the result 
of spontaneous imitation. 

The spontaneous form of imitation rapidly trans- 
forms itself into a voluntary form when the imitator 
purposely executes a movement similar to that which 
he has observed. The more developed form of imita- 
tion, however, cannot be entirely separated from the 
more purely instinctive form. The tendency for an 
observed act to result spontaneously in a similar act is 
always present, and its efi"ect is to prompt the 
process of learning. In imitating others, not only does 
the child learn to act in new ways, but he learns to ap- 
preciate how other people feel and what they are striv- 
ing for in their activity. Imitation is thus a source of 
social appreciation. Children tend both consciously 
and unconsciously to imitate the speech and manners 
of older persons, especially those whom they most ad- 
mire, making the personality of the teacher a matter 
of the utmost importance. 

Play. — The value of the instinct of play in the men- 
tal development of the young cannot be emphasized 
too much. Play finds favorable conditions for its ex- 
pression in the surplus energy characteristic of youth, 
but it often appears, especially among adults, as a 



54 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

means of recuperation from fatigue. The true sig- 
nificance of instinctive play may perhaps be seen best, 
however, by considering the play of the lower animals. 
Most of the lower animals develop forms of play that 
are characteristic of the species to which the animals be- 
long. It would seem that these playful activities are 
definitely related to the adult activities of the same 
species of animal. The play of the kitten may be 
taken as an example of this fact. It has been pointed 
out that the play of the kitten brings into play the very 
activities that are used in its later life as a mouse- 
catcher. From this point of view, play is a preparation 
during the leisure of the young for the serious ac- 
tivities of later life. That this is true in the life of 
the child need hardly be pointed out in detail. Through 
play more than anything else the child learns to know 
the world of objects around him, and how to use them. 
In play, too, the child's imagination and ideational ac- 
tivity are continually being brought into use, and thus 
his thinking faculty is developed. Children engage in 
forms of play, like the running and jumping and ball 
games, that are remarkably similar in all races. Such 
play is especially effective in the training of the body 
and in physical development. Many forms of play, 
on the other hand, are peculiar to a particular race or 
environment, and are imitative of adult pursuits. From 
this point of view, play must be regarded as a prepara- 
tion for the serious activities of later life during the 
leisure period of youth. 



BEHAVIOR— NATIVE AND ACQUIRED 55 

Stages of development of play. — Ordinary observa- 
tion of children's play shows that it takes different pre- 
ferred forms at different ages. The baby is delighted 
with bright colors, loud and novel sounds, and other 
forms of sensory experience, especially when these ex- 
periences are associated with movements that he makes 
himself, as in the case of the rattle. Movements are 
repeated over and over again just for the sake of the 
pleasure they give. Witness the pleasure of the young 
child in repeatedly dropping a spoon, or in tearing 
or rustling a newspaper. In this way the baby learns to 
recognize his own body and the qualities of objects 
with which he comes into daily contact, as well as vari- 
ous ways of manipulating them. As he grows older he 
takes greater and greater interest in producing effects 
upon objects and in manipulating them. Children de- 
rive their enjoyment from playthings, for the most 
part, because of the possibility of doing something to 
them which produces a novel result. Toys are con- 
structed on this principle. One other feature of the toy 
is that it frequently represents something with which a 
child is familiar but in a form that he can handle and 
"make go," as, for example, the toy horse. More and 
more as the child grows older manipulation takes the 
form of various kinds of building and construction. At 
the same time, miitation and imagination are giving 
rise to an emphasis on dramatic forms of play. 

By the time the child reaches school age he feels a 
definite need for companionship in play, and through- 



56 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

out the elementary school period a strongly competitive 
element is present, though at first the rivalry is be- 
tween individuals. Toward the end of this period there 
begins to develop the interest in team competition in 
the case of boys and in clubs in the case of girls. In- 
terest in intellectual forms of games makes its appear- 
ance also during this period. From the time of adoles- 
cence, team play, with its necessary accompaniments 
of leadership and cooperation, becomes predominant. 
Intellectual play also increases in importance from this 
time onward. 

Constructiveness. — Play and imitation both find 
frequent expression in the activity of construction. 
Since this activity is present in adult life as a separate 
activity from play and imitation, and since it is also 
found among the lower animals, it may be regarded as 
a distinct instinctive tendency. In adult human life, 
however, its purely instinctive character is largely lost, 
while in the lower animals it is restricted to definite 
forms of structures, such as the nests of birds, or the 
hives and honeycomb of bees, or the dams and dwell- 
ing-places of beavers. The great importance of this 
instinct for mental development arises ( 1 ) from the in- 
creased efficiency that comes from the habits developed 
in the process of construction; (2) from the increased 
knowledge due to the accurate and precise observation 
of materials necessary for successful construction, and 
(3) from the encouragement of new* ideas and the de- 
velopment of these ideas through making them definite 



BEHAVIOR— NATIVE AND ACQUIRED 57 

in the form of the constructed work. The value of 
constructive kinds of school work, like manual training 
in its various branches, drawing, etc., is therefore accu- 
racy of muscular adjustment, the development of pre- 
cise powers of observation, and the cultivation of a 
form of imagination that is being continually tested 
by the practical results. 

Ownership. — The desire to collect and own things 
is clearly instinctive, both in many of the lower animals 
and in the child. But the form this instinct takes in 
the lower animals is largely restricted to the storing 
away of surplus food, while the child's desire for owner- 
ship may take many directions. Ownership becomes 
an incentive for work, and thus has a great effect on 
mental development. The instinct may be useful in 
the education of children if the child is encouraged 
to make collections that become the source of infor- 
mation, like the collection of stamps and scientific 
specimens. These collections may also readily be 
made the occasion for the teaching of the importance 
of neatness and order. 

Rivalry. — Rivalry, or emulation, belongs to the class 
of instincts that is sometimes called individualistic. It 
is thus akin to the fighting instinct, and readily passes 
over into anger, hate, jealousy, and envy. For this 
reason the encouragement of rivalry is dangerous, tend- 
ing as it does to cultivate feelings of exultation at the 
degradation of others. It may be questioned, how- 
ever, whether man would ever reach as high a degree 



58 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

of efl5ciency if this instinct were entirely suppressed, 
and whether ambition is ever entirely divorced from 
rivalry. In training the young, therefore, the problem 
becomes one of moderating and guiding this instinct, 
rather than one of complete suppression. In the 
schools group competition, for example, may be substi- 
tuted for individual competition, and the child may 
also be taught to try to outdo his own former accom- 
plishment. In both these cases the instinctive desire 
for successful accomplishment is appealed to with less 
danger of arousing feelings against others. 

Acquired activities. — That part of the nervous sys- 
tem which is fixed or organized from the beginning 
rather than plastic (capable of being molded) is de- 
voted to the production of these unlearned activities 
that have been described. These are, then, the forms 
of behavior that may be counted on as entering into 
the activities of all individuals, whatever their experi- 
ence has been or may be. All other forms of fixed or 
organized behavior are learned during the course of 
the individual's own experience and are called habits. 
One of the most important facts about habits, as con- 
trasted with the kinds of behavior that we have de- 
scribed as innate, is the part which consciousness plays 
in their formation. Practically all forms of conscious- 
ness are concerned in habit formation, and it therefore 
becomes necessary to describe these in detail. While, 
then, the remainder of our study will be devoted to the 
study of consciousness, it must not be supposed that 



BEHAVIOR— NATIVE AND ACQUIRED 59 

this study has no relationship to behavior. On the 
contrary, we shall be investigating the various ways 
in which consciousness enters into the process of habit 
formation, as well as into other forms of behavior. 
Before passing to this phase of our work, we shall con- 
sider some of the features that apply to habit in gen- 
eral, whatever forms of consciousness are concerned 
in its formation and operation. 

Similarity between habits and instincts. — It is a 
well-known fact that fully formed habits are per- 
formed with little or no attention to their performance, 
so that the relation of consciousness to a fully formed 
habit is quite as negative as to the innate activities 
that have been described. Habitual activities differ 
from reflex and instinctive activities in their history 
rather than in their result. The physiological proc- 
esses underlying habit are similar to those that ex- 
plain the instinctive forms of behavior, namely, or- 
ganized sensori-motor tracts in the nervous system. 
If we were able to describe the changes that take place 
in these tracts while the habit is being formed, we 
should have a complete explanation of habit as far as 
its physiological conditions are concerned. 

There are two chief ways in which newly organized 
sensori-motor tracts may be formed in the central 
nervous system: (1) by the growing together of the 
branching processes of the neurones, so that new con- 
nections are made; (2) by a reduction in the resistance 
offered by the synapses which form the points of con- 



60 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

nection between the various neurones of any sensori- 
motor path. There is evidence that the synapse is 
crossed by the nervous impulse more readily the more 
frequently it has been used. The more readily the nerv- 
ous impulse traverses the entire sensori-motor tract, 
the better organized are the neurones that are included 
in that tract, and the more immediately and without 
thought the resulting action follows. 

Repetition and attention in habit formation. — Any 
activity that is frequently repeated soon becomes fixed 
in accordance with the principle that has just been 
described. Now, under some circumstances, activities 
may be repeated in this manner without paying much 
attention to the process, and thus a habit is developed 
without much consciousness of the fact. A habit may 
be formed much more readily, however, if attention is 
focused on the activity to be attained, and the pres- 
ence of attention may thus become to some extent a 
substitute for frequency of repetition. The former of 
these two methods of habit-formation is sometimes re- 
ferred to as incidental learning. Some habitual ac- 
tions may be safely left to take care of themselves 
because of the frequency with which opportunities pre- 
sent themselves for learning them. Others, and 
especially those that are difficult to learn, need a great 
deal of attention during the course of their develop- 
ment. In learning to spell, for example, words that 
are frequently met with, and that also follow the ordi- 
nary rules, are usually learned incidentally with read- 



BEHAVIOR— NATIVE AND ACQUIRED 61 

ing and with little conscious effort. On the other hand, 
those words that are difficult because they do not 
follow the usual phonetic rules, or because of rare oc- 
currence, require that extra attention be given them 
in order that they may be spelled correctly. 

The importance of the two factors of attention and 
repetition has been strongly emphasized in the two 
practical maxims which James gives for the forming 
of good moral habits and the breaking of bad ones: 

The first is that in the acquisition of a new habit or 
the leaving off of an old one we must take care to 
launch ourselves with as strong and decided an initia- 
tive as possible. . . . 

The second maxim is: Never suffer an exception 
to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your 
life. 

Advantages and disadvantages of habit. — Provided 
an activity is one that will be frequently required to 
be performed, it is advantageous to make it habitual ; 
for it will then be performed with greater ease, greater 
speed, and greater precision. Making activities habit- 
ual has the additional advantage of freeing conscious- 
ness so that it may be used in connection with the 
acquiring of other activities which have not yet be- 
come habitual, and which perhaps because of their 
nature should never become habits. For example, were 
it not for the fact that habits have been formed of 
making writing movements we should be unable to 



62 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

concentrate our attention on the meaning of the words 
we wish to express. 

While habit is in the main advantageous, one may 
become the slave of habit. Slavery to habit occurs 
when one is unable to change a certain form of be- 
havior when there is good reason that one should do 
so. The reason for changing may be either that the 
habit is morally bad or practically inefficient, or that 
conditions have been so changed as to make change in 
behavior desirable. Persons who are not able to change 
their habits of thought or action when it would be 
advantageous to do so are not easily adaptable to new 
situations, and cannot readily change their opinions 
even though the evidence may require it. 

In view of the tendency which everybody has to 
become more and more fixed in his habits as he becomes 
older, it becomes the more necessary that habits should 
be formed, when young, of such a kind as to be useful 
throughout life. The best time for the formation of 
useful, practical habits is probably the period from 
eight to twelve years in the child's life. This is the 
period for drill in all the processes that constitute the 
tools of learning, and that have to become automatic 
to be useful, such as reading, writing, and the funda- 
mental processes of arithmetic. This is the time, too, 
for inculcating habits of correct manners, pronuncia- 
tion (of one's own and foreign language), as well as 
habits involving moral qualities like cleanliness, inde- 
pendence, accuracy, honesty, and so forth. 



BEHAVIOR— NATIVE AND ACQUIRED 63 

The importance of forming good moral and intel- 
lectual habits has been emphasized by James in hia 
well-known chapter on habit, from which the follow- 
ing striking quotation is taken : 

Could the young but realize how soon they will be- 
come mere walking bundles of habit, they would give 
more heed to their conduct while in the plastic state. 
We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, and never 
to be undone. Every smallest stroke of virtue or vice 
leaves its never so little scar. The drunken Rip Van 
Winkle in Jefferson's play excuses himself for every 
fresh dereliction by saying, "I won't count this time." 
Well, he may not count it and a kind Heaven may not 
count it; but it is being counted none the less. Down 
among his nerve cells and fibers the molecules are 
counting it, registering and storing it up to be used 
against him when the next temptation comes. Noth- 
ing we ever do is, in strict scientific literalness, wiped 
out. Of course this has its good side as well as its bad 
one. As we become permanent drunkards by so many 
separate drinks, so we become saints in the moral, and 
authorities and experts in the practical and scientific 
spheres, by so many separate acts and hours of work. 
Let no youth have any anxiety about the upshot of 
his education, whatever the line of it may be. If he 
keep faithfully busy each hour of the working day, he 
may safely leave the final result to itself. He can with 
perfect certainty count on waking up, some fine morn- 
ing, to find himself one of the competent ones of his 
generation, in whatever pursuit he may have singled 
out. 



84 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

References 

ANGELL, J. R. Psychology. Chapters III, XV, XVI. 

(Holt, 1908.) 
CoLviN, S. S. The Learning Process. Chapters III, 

IV. (Macmillan, 1911.) 
James, W. Talks to Teachers. Chapters IV, V, VI, 

VII, VIII. (Holt, 1904.) 
JuDD, C. H. Psychology. Chapter IX. (Ginn, 1917.) 
Thorndike, E. L. Educational Psychology. Vol. I. 

(Teachers CoUege, 1913.) 



CHAPTER IV 

SENSATION 

Having surveyed the equipment with which man is 
endowed by birth for bringing about movements, and 
having seen in a general way how other activities grow 
up in the course of an individual's own experience, we 
shall now turn to a description of the detailed manner 
in which these new activities develop and their con- 
nection with the various kinds of conscious processes. 
The child is not born with ready-made activities to suit 
the greater number of objects and happenings in the 
world around him. It is true that he may react, as 
we have seen, in a limited number of ways to some 
of these objects and events. He responds, for exam- 
ple, in a perfectly definite way and with a perfectly 
definite set of activities to objects placed between his 
lips (the sucking instinct). Similarly, after a few days 
he turns his head in the direction of a bright light. 
But activities of this sort are relatively few in number 
and limited in their application. Accordingly, the 
child's immediate task is to learn to react to the objects 
in the external w<orld about him, or, in other words, 
to develop a whole mass of habits in response to 
these objects. These habits arise in connection with 

65 



66 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

the conscious processes known as perception and sen- 
sation. 

Objects in the environment act as stimuli to the sense- 
organs; that is, either by actual physical contact (as 
in touch and taste) or by means of physical vibra- 
tions (as in hearing and seeing), they produce changes 
in the sense-organs, and these in turn generate nervous 
energy in the nerves with which they are connected. 
This nervous energy, when carried to the appropriate 
sensory area in the cortex, becomes the condition for 
a consciousness of the qualities of these objects. The 
consciousness of the qualities of objects (including 
one's own body) thus brought about by direct sttim- 
ulation of the sense-organs is called sensation. 

In the early life of the child the objects around him 
must be continually stimulating his sense-organs and 
giving rise to sensations. These sensations at first 
throng into consciousness in a confused mass, and only 
gradually become distinguished from one another and 
grouped together in such a way as to mean certain ob- 
jects. The consciousness of objects directly stimulat- 
ing the sense-organs is known as perception. The 
process of perception is, of course, continued through- 
out adult life. During much of our waking life we are 
engaged in touching, hearing, seeing, tasting, smell- 
ing, etc., the objects about us and shaping our activi- 
ties accordingly. Nor are we confined to the objects 
of our immediate environment, but through the senses 



SENSATION 67 

of hearing and sight we become conscious of objects 
far distant. 

Sensations and perceptions occur together. — If we 
consider carefully the nature of any process of percep- 
tion — for example, the perception of the book at which 
we are looking — we will observe that the process is not 
simple, but that it can be analyzed into still simpler 
processes. The book has certain qualities, especially 
those of color. If we care to examine the book by the 
sense of touch, we find that it has also touch qualities. 
The cover may be rough, the edges smooth. The per- 
ception of the book is bound up with a consciousness 
of its qualities. Perception and sensation, therefore, 
occur together and are different phases of one and the 
same process. Since sensation is the more elementary 
of these two related processes, we shall consider it 
first and deal with perception in the next chapter. 

Visual sensations. — There are as many classes of 
sensations as there are kinds of sense-organs, and all 
of these will be briefly touched upon, beginning with 
visual sensations, since these make up so large a part 
of human adult perception. As has been seen, the stim- 
ulation of the sense-organs constitutes an essential 
condition of sensation. It will therefore be necessary 
for us to take into consideration the nature of the vari- 
ous sense-organs and the way they function. In order 
to make the description complete, the various sources 
of stimulation of the sense-organs must also be consid- 
ered. The latter constitute the physical conditions of 



68 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



sensations; the former, together with the changes in 
the nervous system, the physiological conditions. 

The eye (Fig. 13) is similar to a photographic camera 
in its construction and in the way it does its work. 
The pupil, which is an opening in the iris (the colored 




Fig. 13. Diagrammatic section of the human eye. 0, optic nerve; 
S, sclerotic; C, cornea; A, choroid coat; /, iris; R. retina; V, vitre- 
ous humor; H, aqueous humor; L, crystalline lens; X, optic center 
of the lens; b, blind spot; /. fovea centralis; p, pupil; M, ciliary 
muscles, which control the curvature of the lens; Ob, object outside 
of eye; Im, image on the retina. (From Judd, after Wundt by per- 
mission of Ginn and Co.) 



part of the eye), admits the rays of light. The expan- 
sion of the pupil in dull light and its contraction in 
bright light is analogous to the wlorking of the dia- 
phragm of the camera. In front of the pupil is the 
cornea, a transparent covering shaped like a watch- 
crystal. Just back of the pupil is the lens of the eye, 
which refracts the rays of light and brings them to a 
focus on the retina. Between the lens and the retina 



SENSATION 



69 



is a mass of transparent jelly-like substance (the vitre- 
ous humor) which, with the aqueous humor in front 
of the lens, fills out the eye and gives it its shape. 

The retina. — The retina is a thin film at the back 
of the eye. Although it is but one-hundredth of an 
inch thick, the microscope shows that it is extremely 




Fig. 14. Diagrammatic section of the retina. (From Judd, after 
Greef, by permission of Ginn and Company.) 

complex. Fig. 14 shows the various layers of cells 
and fibers of which it is comprised. The layer marked 
X lies directly back of the vitreous humor. It consists 
of nerve fibers that are directly continuous with the 
optic nerve, the fibers of which in turn pass to the base 
of the brain and conduct the impulses to the visual 
area in the occipital region of the cerebral cortex. 
The layer of cells marked II is the so-called rod-and- 



70 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

cone layer, which is connected with the fibers of layer 
No. X by a series of layers composed of interconnected 
cells (marked IX to III). It is this layer of rods and 
cones that is the true visual sense-organ, since it is 
here that the nervous excitation is set up which, when 
carried to the brain, is accompanied by the visual sen- 
sation. When the rays of light (ether waves) are 
brought to a focus on the retina, they set up changes 
in these rods and cones, and the nervous impulses re- 
sult. These impulses are carried to the brain by the 
path already described. 

The retina is not equally sensitive at all points to 
the rays of light. There is a small depression, known 
as the fovea, in the retina almost directly back of the 
lens. Under ordinary circumstances the eye is turned 
so as to bring the image of the object on this part of the 
retina, which is very rich in the number of highly de- 
veloped cones, the rods being absent at this point. 
Outside this central point in the retina the number of 
cones decreases and the number of rods increases, until 
at the extreme edges of the retina the cones have prac- 
tically disappeared and rods only remain. At one point 
on the side of the retina toward the nose, where the 
optic nerve enters the eye, neither rods nor cones are 
present. This point is known as the blind spot. An 
experiment proving that we are not able to see when 
the image strikes this part of the retina will be de- 
scribed later. 

Muscular adjustments of the eye. — Just as the 



SENSATION 71 

camera needs to be adjusted or focused according to 
the distance of the object to be photographed, so the 
eye automatically adjusts itself so as to make a clear 
image of the object looked at on the retina. The ad- 
justment in the eye is a muscular one by means of 
which the front surface of the lens is made flatter for 
distant objects and rounder for near objects. This ad- 
justment of the lens is known as accommodation. In 
cases of near-sightedness and far-sightedness the eyes 
are unable to make this adjustment successfully, and 
artificial lenses have to be used to assist the eye in the 
process of accommodation. 

Another muscular adjustment in connection with 
vision is that of convergence, by means of which the 
two eyes are moved inward and outward so as to bring 
an image of the objects upon the fovea of each retina. 
Both accommodation and convergence give rise to 
muscular sensations that become a part of the total 
consciousness when looking at objects. 

Visual sensations and their stimuli. — There are, in 
general, two classes of visual sensations, namely, col- 
ored and colorless. The sensations of color consist of 
red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and violet, both 
singly and in combination, and all their shades, tints, 
and degrees of purity. The colorless sensations con- 
sist of the series that begins with pure white and ends 
with black, innumerable shades of gray intervening. 
The members of this series differ from one another 
only in brightness. 



72 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

The physical stimuli for visual sensations are ether 
vibrations. The eye is, however, sensitive only to those 
vibrations whose rates vary from four hundred and 
thirty-five trillions to seven hundred and sixty-nine 
trilHons per second. Colorless sensations result from 
the mixture of waves of various frequency. Red is the 
result of waves of four hundred and thirty-five tril- 
lions per second ; violet of waves of seven hundred and 
sixty-nine trillions per second ; while the vibration rates 
of the other colors range between these two extremes. 

The color series. — Certain relationships exist among 
the colors that enable us to arrange them in their spec- 
tral order — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. 
This is the natural order in which to arrange colors 
when we are considering them from the physical point 
of view, red being the result of the slowest ether waves, 
and violet of the fastest, and the rates of vibrations of 
the other colors ranging between them in the order 
named. 

It is an interesting fact, from a psychological point of 
view, that the relations between colors as sensations 
can better be expressed in a different manner from 
this straight-line series of the spectrum. If the colors 
are arranged in a circular fashion, as in Fig. 15, and 
purple included among their number, the arrangement 
will express very well many of the psychological re- 
lations between them. In this order of arrangement 
violet, instead of being farthest from red as in the 
spectral series, is brought close to it, and between them 



SENSATION 



73 



is the transition color purple, bearing a relation to 
red and violet similar to that which orange bears to 
red and yellow. 

Complementary colors. — Again, it will be noticed 
that in the circular order of the colors it is a bluish- 
green that is placed at opposite ends of the diameter 
from red, expressing the fact that blue-green is to be 

Fwrple 



Violet 



Blue 



Greenish 




Orange 



YeUoiir 



(jresn 



Bluish Grceri) 



Fig. 15. Circular arrangement of colors representing complemen- 
tary colors at opposite ends of diameters. 

regarded as the color that is psychologically farthest 
away from red. The reason for this arrangement is 
that, from some points of view, red and blue-green are 
antagonistic colors. This may be seen from the phe- 
nomenon of color mixture. If these two colors be pre- 
sented to the eye so rapidly that they stimulate the 
fovea at practically the same time, the retina cannot 
respond to both of them separately, and the two proc- 
esses neutralize each other, the result being a sensa- 
tion of gray. A simple method of mixing colors in this 



74 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

way is to take two or more overlapping disks of dif- 
ferent colors and rotate them by means of an electric 
motor. Two colors that when thus mixed produce a 
sensation of gray are called complementary colors. If 
a color is mixed with any color that stands nearer to 
it in the color circle than its complementary, the result 
is an intervening color. Thus red mixed with green 
produces yellow, and red mixed with blue produces 
purple. 

Sensations not direct reflections of external 
events. — A question that naturally arises at this point 
is, Why should our sensations of color be so differently 
related to one another from the way in which colors as 
physical facts are related? We can explain the dif- 
ference, at least in part, by remembering that the im- 
mediate condition for these visual sensations is not 
the physical vibrations of the ether, which make up 
the spectral series, but the effects these vibrations 
produce on the retina. Between the physical and the 
psychical realm stands the physiological. 

Color-blindness. — The indirect character of the re- 
lationship between the physical and the conscious may 
be further emphasized by referring to the facts of 
color-blindness. All parts of the eye are not equally 
sensitive to color. If one eye is closed and the open 
eye looks at a fixed point, the image of this point falls 
on the fovea, or point of clearest vision. Now, if the 
eye is kept steadily fixated on the point and a colored 
object is brought in at the side, the part of the retina 



SENSATION 75 

stimulated is somewhere to the side of the fovea. Ex- 
perimenting in this way shows that the retina may- 
be divided into three parts, according to sensitivity to 
color. The first of these includes the fovea itself and 
an area around it where all colors are normally seen in 
their true color qualities. Farther from the fovea is 
another area where yellow and blue are seen in their 
true color qualities and red and green are not. Still 
farther out toward the edge of the retina is an area 
where the shapes of colored objects are seen but al- 
ways appear to be gray. Even the normal eye is thus 
color-blind outside of the fovea! region of the retina. 
The fovea is, then, the most developed portion of 
the retina for discrimination of color, and the edges 
the least developed, while the intermediate region is a 
region of intermediate development. 

It would appear that gray is a more primitive visual 
sensation than any of the colors, and that yellow and 
blue are more primitive than red and green. This view 
is also supported by the fact that color-blind persons 
(that is, persons who are color-blind even in the fovea) 
are most frequently lacking in sensitivity to red and 
green, which are seen by them as either gray or some 
shade of yellow. It is rare that color-blind persons are 
insensitive to yellow and blue, and still more rare that 
all colors are seen as gray, although cases of both these 
kinds are found. 

After-images. — When one looks at an object and 
then turns away from it, the effect on the retina re- 



76 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

mains for a short time in the form of an after-sensa- 
tion. Take a piece of colored paper, for example, and 
place it on a white background; then gaze at it for a 
moment or two. Now shift the gaze to another part 
of the paper. A patch of color of the same shape and 
size as the original colored paper will appear. The 
color of this patch will, however, be found to be the 
complementary of the original color, and the back- 
ground immediately surrounding it will be dark gray 
instead of the original white background. These after- 
sensations are called negative because of the reversal 
of the color and of the light and shade. 

Under certain circumstances, before the negative 
after-image sets in, a positive after-image is seen for 
a short time, which is of the same color as the original. 
On turning out a gas-flame suddenly, for example, 
the yellow flame may still be seen for an instant after- 
ward, changing its position with the direction in which 
one looks. A moment later it is replaced by the nega- 
tive after-image. 

All of the above facts show that visual sensations are 
indirect and cannot be explained, except as the re- 
sult of the physical stimuli producing certain physi- 
ological processes. The physical series differs from the 
psychical, and the latter are to be understood only by 
the interposition of the physiological series. This is 
universally true of all sensations, though not so strik- 
ingly marked in the other senses as in vision. 

Recognition of color in children. — Children will 



SENSATION 77 

show a preference for colored objects over white and 
black as soon as they are able to grasp objects (at about 
six or seven months of age), and there is, therefore, a 
strong probability that ability to discriminate colors 
is present at that early age. It is at least certain that 
children, as soon as they are able to understand the 
instructions, can select colors like a given sample from 
a large number of other colors. Tests made in this way 
show that some children recognize red, orange, yellow, 
blue, violet, and purple early in the third year of life. 

Ability to name colors with exactness, however, 
comes much later in development. Investigations 
made of children who are just beginning school have 
shown that about 30 per cent of the boys and 28 per 
cent of the girls could not name the four colors red, 
yellow, green, and blue correctly. Ability to note slight 
differences in saturation ^ increases rapidly during the 
school period, so that in this respect a fourteen-year- 
old child is two or three times as sensitive as a six-year- 
old child. 

Whether the improvement that takes place in abil- 
ity to recognize colors and differences in saturation 
during the school period is due to any development in 
the retina may well be doubted. Since color-blindness, 
which is probably due in most cases to lack of retinal 
development, cannot be overcome by practice, the im- 

^ A color is said to be more saturated the purer it is. Lack of 
purity is due to an admixture of gray. A fully saturated blue would 
be one that contains as much blue as is possible. The best examples 
of fully saturated colors are those of the spectrum. 



78 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

provement is probably due to increased attention 
rather than to improved color sense; but the fact re- 
mains that the naming and recognizing of colors may- 
be much refined by practice. The same point is illus- 
trated by the superiority of women over men and of 
girls over boys in recognizing and naming colors, due 
to their greater interest and practice. It is interesting 
to note that children begin by preferring red to blue, 
but develop in the direction of preferring blue to red. 

Auditory stimuli. — The usual source of sound in 
the physical world is vibrations of the air. These vi- 
brations may be periodic, that is, occurring in regular 
succession, or they may be non-periodic, or irregular. 
In the former case they give rise to tone sensations, 
in the latter to noises. The more rapid are the vibra- 
tions giving rise to tone, the higher is the tone; the 
less rapid the vibrations, the lower is the tone. The 
greater the amplitude of the vibrations, the louder or 
more intense is the tone. The complexity of vibra- 
tions corresponds to the timbre of tones. 

The ear. — The ear (Fig. 16) is composed of three 
parts, external, middle, and inner ears. The external 
ear-passage is separated from the middle ear by a 
membrane known as the tympanic or drum membrane. 
This membrane is attached on the inside to three small 
bones that stretch across the middle ear to the wall 
of the inner ear, where one of them, the stapes, fits 
into an opening in the wall of the inner ear. The inner 
ear consists of a series of winding passages so complex 



SENSATION 



79 



as to have been given the name of the labyrinth. 
These passages of the labyrinth are filled with a liquid, 
which is set into vibration by the movements of the 
stapes, which has in turn been set in vibration by the 




ET 



Fig. 16. Structure of the ear, showing P, the pinna or external flap 
of the ear; EM, external meatus or passage leading to T, the tym- 
panum or membrane which separates the external from the middle 
ear (/) ; stretching across the middle ear is the chain of ossicles; 
ET, the Eustachian tube leading to the throat; SC, the semi-circular 
canals; C, the cochlea; AN, the auditory nerve. (From Judd, after 
Czermak, by permission of Ginn and Company.) 

other bones and the tympanic membrane. One part 
of the labyrinth is a series of winding turns called, from 
the shape, the cochlea (snail-shell). Stretching across 
the passages in the cochlea is the basilar membrane 
(Fig. 17), which, with the structures resting upon it, 
is the true sense-organ of hearing, as the retina is the 
true sense-organ of sight. 



80 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



The basilar membrane, if stretched out flat, would 
look somew'hat like the sounding-board of a piano. 
Indeed, while it is a continuous membrane in charac- 
ter, it has running through it fibers that are somewhat 
analogous to the strings of a piano. These fibers dif- 
fer in length, and it is believed that tones of the higher 
pitch set into vibration the shorter fibers, and tones 




Fibres of Ruditory Jyfen/e 

Fig. 17. Diagrammatic representation of the basilar membrane and 
organ of Corti. (After Sickley.) 

of the lower pitch the longer fibers. The vibrations, 
thus taken up from the liquid of the middle ear by the 
basilar membrane, become converted into a nervous 
excitation which is carried to the brain by the auditory 
nerve. 

Auditory fusions. — The eye and the ear differ de- 
cidedly in the way they are affected by combinations 
of their respective stimuli. It was noted, in connec- 
tion with the discussion of color mixture, that the eye 
is unable to distinguish between two or more colors 
that strike it at the same time, but effects a com- 
promise between them. Sensations of sound that 
occur simultaneously do not so completely fuse as do 



SENSATION 81 

colors, although the sound waves themselves reach the 
ear as a single complex wave. The ear has the capacity 
of analyzing out the elementary sounds of which a total 
complex sound is composed. It is probable that each 
fiber of the basilar membrane responds only to that 
part of the complex wave whose vibration rate is the 
same as its own, and that thus a separate nervous im- 
pulse arises for each part of a complex sound wave. 

The human ear is sensitive to only a certain range 
of air vibrations, namely, from about 16 per second 
to about 50,000 per second. Above and below these 
limits no auditory sensation is received. Tone-deaf- 
ness, a condition analogous to color-blindness, in which 
individuals are unable to hear tones of a certain regis- 
ter, sometimes occurs. 

Hearing in children. — Reactions to auditory stimu- 
lation by turning the head begin to take place in the 
first few; weeks of life ; but these are probably instinc- 
tive actions implying no real recognition of the sounds. 
In some children appreciation of music is shown in the 
first year. About the middle of the second year there 
are the first attempts at singing, and probably the 
majority of children distinguish the tones of simple 
melodies in the fourth year of life. However, one 
investigator found that only about 20 per cent of 
children beginning school can sing a song by heart, 
and only about 36 per cent can imitate a simple 
melody. Great individual differences exist between 
children in their ability to sing, corresponding to the 



82 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

great differences in this respect present in adults. 

It is quite as important for the work of the school- 
room that the child should be able to hear distinctly 
as to see clearly. Tests that are approximately exact 
may be made by determining the distance at which the 
tick of a watch or a series of whispered words is heard. 
Tests were made in this way on school children of 
Liverpool, England. The children were first divided 
into three classes, bright, average, and dull, according 
to their ability in school work. It was found that the 
average number of inches a watch must be held from 
the ear so as to be audible was fifty-one inches for the 
bright pupils, 47.3 inches for the average, and 31.25 
inches for the dull. Serious cases of defective hearing 
often exist without the teacher, and in some cases with- 
out the pupil himself, knowing anything about it. 

Static sense. — The cochlea is the only part of the 
inner ear that is directly connected with the sense of 
hearing. The rest of the labyrinth, consisting of the 
semicircular canals and the vestibule (Fig. 17), are 
sense-organs of equilibrium. When the head is moved 
the liquid in the semicircular canals and the vestibule 
is set in motion, and this motion is communicated to 
small hair-cells, which in turn set up nervous impulses 
that are carried to the brain and result in muscular 
reactions that keep the body in an erect position. These 
impulses do not come to consciousness except when 
they are very intense, as in dizziness. 

Smell and taste. — Smell and taste sensations are 



SENSATION 83 

usually experienced in combination with each other, 
and especially is it true that sensations of smell usu- 
ally accompany what seem to be taste. Properly speak- 
ing, there are but four fundamental taste qualities, viz., 
salt, sour, bitter, sweet. All other so-called tastes are 
compounds of these primary tastes together with smell 
sensations. Food owes most of its flavor to smell sen- 
sations, as can readily be seen by holding the nostrils 
or when the sense of smell is impaired because of a 
cold. Touch and temperature sensations also blend 
with taste sensations, and form a very essential part 
of what are usually called tastes. Some parts of the 
tongue are more sensitive to certain tastes than others. 
Thus the base of the tongue is more sensitive to bit- 
ter, the sides of the tongue to sour, and the tip to salt 
and sweet. 

Smell and taste are relatively unimportant senses 
from the standpoint of education, but it is interesting 
to find that keenness of discrimination of these rela- 
tively lower senses is capable of a high degree of re- 
finement. Ability to distinguish slight differences of 
odors and tastes may be pushed to a high degree of 
refinement by practice. Thus James vouches for the 
story that a woman who had lost her sight was able 
to sort linen in a laundry by the sense of smell, and it 
is a well-known fact that tea-tasters and connoisseurs 
of wines develop an astonishing capacity for observ- 
ing slight differences in taste sensations. While in 
special cases a high degree of refinement in discriminat- 



84 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

ing taste and smell sensations may be important, for 
the majority of persons such development is of little 
or no value. 

Skin sensations. — There are four kinds of sensation 
that result from the stimulation of the surface of the 
skin. These are touch (pressure), pain, cold, and 
warmth. While we frequently get these sensations in 
combination, as we do those of taste and smell, yet 
they are in truth separate classes of sensations and 
have separate end organs. The latter point may be ex- 
perimentally decided in the following way: Choose 
a certain limited area of the skin and mark it off by 
means of a rubber stamp into small areas of 1 milli- 
meter square. Now, if each of these small areas be 
touched with a cold, bluntly pointed instrument, it will 
be found that at certain points the sensation of cold 
flashes up, while at others it does not. These so-called 
cold spots may be marked, and it will be found that 
they remain permanent from day to day. In a similar 
manner, by warming a blunt metal point, explorations 
may be made for warm spots, and it will be found that 
they are more numerous than the cold spots and not 
identical with them. So in like manner touch spots 
may be identified, and also pain spots. 

Muscular sensations. — Besides the separate sense 
of pain, cold, and warmth, there must be added sensa- 
tions connected with movements of the muscles. Some 
of these are brought about by the stimulation of sen- 
sory nerves in the muscles (muscular sensations), 



SENSATION 85 

others by the stimulation of nerves in the joints (joint 
sensations), and still others are connected with the 
tendons (tendon sensations). 

The sense of touch (including muscular sensations) 
must share with those of sight and hearing the honor 
of playing the principal role in building up our knowl- 
edge of our own bodies and the external world. The 
degree of refinement possible in this sense is seen in 
the blind, who are very largely dependent upon it. 

Sensations are first things in consciousness, and con- 
stitute the raw stuff from which knowledge of the ex- 
ternal world and our own bodies is built up. A rich 
and varied stock of such experiences is necessary in 
order that one may comprehend the world aright and 
in its fullness. Furthermore, it must be remembered 
that these sensations are concerned in the guiding of 
activities. The further discussions of these points 
will be deferred till the end of the chapter on percep- 
tion, . since, as has already been shown, the processes 
of perception and sensation actually occur together 
and are not really separate processes. 

References 

Angell,J. R. Psychology. Chapter V. (Holt, 1908.) 
JuDD, C. H. Psychology. Chapter V. (Ginn, 1917.) 
PiLLSBURY, W. B. Essentials of Psychology. Chap- 
ter IV. (Macmillan, 1911.) 
Stout, G. F. Manual of Psychology. Chapter IV. 
(University Tutorial Press, 1915.) 



CHAPTER V 

PERCEPTION 

Relation between sensation and perception. — Per- 
ception has already been defined as the consciousness 
of objects which are directly stimulating the sense- 
organs. Sensations are continually thronging into con- 
sciousness; but they do not come, at least in adult 
consciousness, unrelated to each other. Certain sen- 
sations belong with certain others and go to make up 
our perception of a definite object. Thus the visual 
sensations (of color) coming from an inkstand at which 
we may be looking all combine and make up the per- 
cept of the inkstand. These particular sensations are 
grouped together, and other sensations received at 
the same time, such as those from the desk on which 
the inkstand lies, do not belong in the same group. 
So closely knit are sensations in a percept that the term 
"fusion" has sometimes been used to describe the com- 
plete union that exists between them. The sensations 
are bound together into a perceptual unity or oneness. 

Sensations never stand alone. They never come to 
us as isolated factors of experience. The color red is 
always the color of some object; that is to say, it is 
always related to other sensations. Indeed, the sensa- 

86 



PERCEPTION 



87 



tions exist only as a part of perceptions, and it is not 
possible actually to separate the sensation from the 
percept of which it is a part. It is only through their 
combination with other sensations that sensations have 
any meaning whatever, so that from this point of view 
perception may be regarded as the process in which 
sensations are given a meaning. The materials of 



■< 



> 



^ 



< 



Fia. 18. The Miiller-Lyer illusion. The two upper lines are equal 
and look equal. The two lower lines are equal but look unequal. 



which the percept is composed consist of sensations, 
but its meaning is dependent on the way in which these 
sensations are arranged in consciousness. The inter- 
pretation is quite as much due to the way in which the 
sensations are related to one another as to their mere 
presence. 

An illusion as an example. — Thus two horizontal 
lines that are of the same length such as those of the 
upper part of Fig. 18 are given the same meaning, ex- 
cept that they occupy different positions. But if there 



88 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

are added to the horizontal lines oblique lines which 
are slightly different in the case of the two lines, as in 
the lower part of the figure, they have no longer the 
same meaning. The line at the right is interpreted 
as being longer than the line at the left. Notwith- 
standing the fact that the retinal images are of the 
same length, they are interpreted differently because 
of their different settings. 

When it happens, as in the above illustration, that 
the meaning of a perceptual experience is false, the 
perception is called an illusion. All illusions are splen- 
did examples of the principle we are discussing, viz., 
that the interpretation of a perceptual experience de- 
pends not merely on the sensation-qualities but also 
upon the way in which they are related to one another. 
The person who shoots at a stump thinking it a 
partridge may have the same sensations as when he 
later discovers his mistake; but they get a different 
meaning because of their new setting. 

The relating process present in all perception. — 
What is true of illusions is quite as true, though per- 
haps less strikingly, of all perception. The sensation 
gets its meaning from the connection it has with other 
sensations. The sensation of coldness may mean ice 
or ether or ice-cream, according as it is associated with 
this or that other sensation or group of sensations. 
A certain group of sensations of green, when asso- 
ciated with certain others of wthite and gold, mean 



PERCEPTION 89 

a book; but the same sensations may mean a lady's 
hat or the leaf of a tree in other connections. 

Meaning also dependent on past experience. — The 
meaning that is given to a sensation in the perceptual 
process depends not only upon the other sensations 
that are immediately present, but also in part upon 
past experience. Our present experience of any ob- 
ject at which we look is dependent on our former ex- 
perience with the same and similar objects. Most 
of our adult perceptions are immediately dependent 
only on visual sensations; but indirectly they are de- 
pendent very much on former sensations of other kinds, 
especially those of touch. The meaning of such an 
object as a watch, when we are looking at it, is bound 
up with the touch qualities that in former experiences 
have been connected with it. It is, of course, untrue 
that when we look at the watch we actually remem- 
ber our various experiences of touching and seeing it 
and other watches in the past; yet they enter into the 
total meaning we give the experience. 

Aristotle's illusion. — That the total meaning given 
to an object or situation is dependent upon past ex- 
perience may be illustrated by a simple illusion of the 
sense of touch which was described by Aristotle and is 
known as Aristotle's illusion. If one crosses the first 
and second finger and touches an object, such as a 
lead-pencil, with the outside edges of the fingers, the 
object will appear double. This is because under or- 
dinary conditions there must be two objects present 



90 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

in order that they may give rise to touch sensations in 
these portions of the fingers at one and the same tune. 
Hence, we give the present sensations of touch the 
same meaning as when we have had former similar 
experiences. 

Filling in the blind spot. — It has already been 
pointed out that a certain small part (the blind spot) 
of the retina of each eye is not sensitive to light. If 
the left eye is closed, and the right eye is fixed stead- 
ily on the point marked with the cross in Fig. 19, and 




Fig. 19. Diagram to show the presence of the blind spot and per- 
ceptual "filling in." If the left eye is closed and the right fixated on 
the cross, the black spot will disappear when the page is held about 
seven inches from the face. 



the book moved slowly backward and forward, that is, 
away from and toward the face, there will be found 
a position about seven inches from the eye where the 
round spot disappears. This is because the round spot 
is now imaged upon that part of the retina which is 
blind. The interesting part of the experiment from 
the standpoint of our present discussion, however, is 
that, while the round spot disappears, there is no 
break in the background at this point. The back- 
ground appears as a uniform surface. The interpreta- 
tion or meaning given the experience depends on past 
experience, and, since such backgrounds are usually uni- 
form, the usual interpretation is put on the present 



PERCEPTION 91 

experience, and the space is filled in, the background 
seeming uniform in character, even though no sensa- 
tions are coming from a certain portion of the page, as 
shown by disappearance of the round spot. 

All perceptual meanings derived from past experi- 
ence. — While it is easier to see the influence of past 
experience in the case of such illusions as we have 
just described, it is quite as true that it forms an 
essential part of all our perceptual experiences. Our 
experiences of all the objects that we perceive are 
based on interpretations of present sensations made in 
the light of past experience. In this way the present 
visual sensations of yellow from a brass candlestick, 
for example, convey much more information than that 
of mere color. They are present signs of all past ex- 
periences of the smoothness to the sense of touch, the 
hardness, the coldness, and the heaviness, which have 
been experienced in connection with these and similar 
objects and which are now inextricably bound up with 
the present sensations of color. 

The visual sense is usually the direct source of most 
of our perceptions, but the process is the same when 
other senses are the ones that directly contribute the 
sensations. When an object is touched in the dark, 
for example, past experiences of a visual sort assist 
in the meaning given the experience. The song of a 
bird, if it is familiar, gives a perception of the bird, 
which to some persons is more satisfying than seeing 
the bird. Such persons are naturally more sensitive 



92 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

to sounds than colors and shapes of small moving ob- 
jects, and their interests have been of such a character 
as to lead them to prefer the auditory meanings. 

Since the perception of objects is not entirely the 
result of the present immediate sensations, it follows 
that our consciousness of objects is being continually 
built up and developed. A child's perception of ob- 
jects is not to be regarded as the same as an adult's, nor 
one adult's the same as another's. What is seen, 
heard, and felt depends on what has been experienced, 
and we cannot take it for granted that a child sees 
just what we see, even though he is made to attend 
carefully. He lacks the necessary experience to put 
the same meaning into his sensations as does the adult. 

Perception of space. — Thus far we have been en- 
gaged in discussing the perceptual unity of objects, 
that is, the relation of oneness which exists between 
certain sensations that go together to make up our 
perception of a single object. Besides the unity of 
perceived objects, there is another important rela- 
tionship which exists between the sensory qualities of 
every object, namely, the relationship of space. Every 
object as perceived is located at a certain point in space 
and has size (length, breadth, and thickness). This 
relationship of space is an important aspect of the per- 
ceptual process. Careful analysis of space percep- 
tion will show that the main points that we have 
brought out concerning perception in general are true 
also of the perception of space. Space as perceived is 



PERCEPTION 93 

(1) the result of gradual development, and (2) in- 
volves an interpretation based both (a) on the relating 
of present sensations to one another and (b) on past 
experience. 

The characteristics of size and of position in space 
which objects have, seem at first thought to be imme- 
diately and directly experienced through the organs 
of sense as other qualities of objects. A little re- 
flection, however, shows that, while such qualities as 
we have discussed in the chapter on sensations are all 
due to some form of physical energy (air waves, ether 
waves), no such physical forms of energy are related 
to the spatial characteristics of objects. Our further 
study will show that space is a type of relationship that 
has been built up between the various sensory quali- 
ties in the course of our experience. 

Auditory space. — Not all the senses give us spatial 
experiences to the same degree. Smell and taste, for 
example, alone and without the help of the other 
senses, give us little or no information of the size and 
location of things. Hearing without the aid of the 
other senses gives us no notion of the size of things, 
though it does of their location. It is true that we can 
often tell by the nature of a sound something of the 
size of the object that has emitted it, since a loud sound 
usually goes with large objects and less intense sounds 
with smaller objects. But this information is clearly 
due to past experience in which other senses have co- 
operated with that of hearing. 



94 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

By a simple sort of experimental analysis, it may be 
shown that when we are able to locate the direction 
from which sounds come, the ability to do so is not 
due merely to the auditory sensations simply as sen- 
sations. If a sound is made in the plane that runs 
vertically half way between the two ears, it will be 
found that without the aid of the other senses it is 
impossible to tell from what point in this plane the 
sound comes, although it is easy to tell that it comes 
from some point half way between the two ears. This 
is because a sound is usually located by the aid of the 
difference in intensity in the two ears. If the sound 
is at the right it is more intense in the right ear, and 
if on the left it is more intense in the left ear. It is 
this difference that is the cue to the location of sound. 

This may be further proved by extending the ex- 
periment so as to make two sounds of similar quality 
at the same moment at both sides of the head, as 
may be done by the use of two telephones each of which 
is in the same electric circuit. If the two telephones 
are placed at equal distances from the two ears and 
sound together, there seems to be but one sound, lo- 
cated somewhere in the median plane (half way be- 
tween the two ears). If the telephone on the right, 
however, is placed nearer than that on the left, so that 
the intensity of the sensation is greater in the right 
ear than in the left, the sound will appear to come from 
the right. This experiment illustrates very well what 
has been already referred to as perceptual fusion. Any 



PERCEPTION 95 

sound makes two impressions, one on the right and the 
other on the left ear. Nevertheless, in consciousness 
these two impressions appear as one; they are fused. 
In the total result a difference in intensity in the two 
impressions means for consciousness a certain direction. 
It is seen, then, that whereas locating sound seems to 
be a simple and immediate process, it is in reality com- 
plex and the indirect result of relating sensations to 
one another in the light of past experience. 

Visual space. — Turning from hearing to vision, a 
similar problem confronts us, and the solution of the 
problem is also similar. Nothing seems more direct 
and immediate than the visual perception of the size 
of objects. But it may easily be shown that the sen- 
sations from seen objects are not sufficient ground for 
the perception of their size. If they were, the boy 
in Fig. 20 would look as tall as the man; for the 
drawings are of the same height and must make im- 
ages on the retina that are of the same size. The 
picture, however, by its perspective suggests that the 
man is farther away than the boy. In addition to this, 
we have learned from past experience that boys in 
general are smaller than men. For these two reasons, 
although the picture of the boy is the same height as 
that of the man, the meaning we give to the picture 
is that the boy is smaller. Just so, in all our visual 
perception of size the retinal image is always inter- 
preted in the light of such factors as distance and 



96 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



past experience, as well as other factors that we can- 
not go into here. 




Fig. 20. The actual height of the figure of the boy is the same 
as that of the man. 



Perception of the third dimension. — The percep- 
tion of the third dimension (thickness or depth) of 



PERCEPTION 97 

objects through the sense of sight is brought about in 
an analogous manner to the perception of direction of 
sounds. Sounds are heard with different degrees of in- 
tensity in the two ears. So also the retinal images 
from a solid object are slightly different. The right 
eye sees a little farther around the right side of a solid 
object and the left eye a little farther around the left 
side of the object. Just as the two impressions in the 
tw'o ears fuse into one sound, the two impressions 
that come from the two eyes fuse into a single object, 
and just as the difference of intensity in the former 
case means direction, so in the latter case the differ- 
ence in the retinal images means solidity. 

These facts concerning visual perception of solidity 
may be proved very simply through the use of the 
stereoscope. This instrument makes use of two 
slightly different pictures of the same object or scene, 
these being obtained by photographing with two 
lenses placed a short distance apart. The stereoscope 
is so constructed that the right eye sees only the right- 
eye picture and the left eye only the left-eye picture. 
By means of lenses the stereoscope makes the two pic- 
tures appear to come from the same direction. Thus 
artificially we have reproduced by pictures conditions 
similar to those that are always present when we look 
at solid objects. The result is that in looking through 
the stereoscope at such pictures the objects repre- 
sented appear solid and the distances between the vari- 
ous objects in the picture stand out as in real life. 



98 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

Tactual space. — Even in connection with the sense 
of touch it is easy to show that the spatial meanings 
are not directly given with the sensations, but rather 
grow up gradually in the course of our experiences. If 
two points, such as the points of a pair of dividers 
slightly blunted, are placed at the same time on any 
portion of the skin, it will be found that they must be 
a certain distance apart before they are recognized 
as two points. If the distance is less they appear to 
the sense of touch as one point. If the points of the 
dividers are gradually separated, a distance will be 
found where they are just recognized as two. This 
distance at which the points are just recognized as 
two is called the spatial threshold for touch. Now", 
this threshold varies at different parts of the skin. 
It is small at those parts of the skin that are most 
used in actively touching things, such as the finger- 
tips, and very large on the unused portions, such as the 
middle of the back. Sensations of touch, then, on the 
finger-tips give rise to different space meanings from 
those that similar sensations of touch give in the mid- 
dle of the back. Moreover, the spatial threshold of 
a given area of the skin can be reduced by practice. 

Habits and perception develop together. — These 
are only a few of the facts that go to show that the 
world of space which we perceive is not immediately 
presented with sensations, but is gradually built up 
in the course of our experience. Objects are not re- 
flected into consciousness as into a mirror, but the sen- 



PERCEPTION 99 

sations to which they give rise are merely the materials 
which are taken up and assimilated with past experi- 
ence and with one another. Perception is, therefore, 
not a stable, unchanging process. The young child 
begins by making random movements, during which 
he comes into contact with objects that at first he 
neither perceives nor locates in the fully developed 
adult fashion. The groping movements of the child 
are not only due to his lack of muscular control, but 
also to the fact that he has not yet learned the spatial 
relations of the objects surrounding him. Objects far 
beyond his reach are grasped at. When he does come 
into contact by the sense of touch with objects, other 
sensations, such as visual and in some cases auditory 
sensations, from the same objects are present. All 
these are gradually fused and related so as to have 
meaning, including position and size. 

In this process sensations from the muscles of the 
limbs and the eyes, which always arise when they are 
moved, are also of great importance in making up the 
total complex process of perception. At the same time, 
the sensory part of the process is accompanied by 
corresponding motor processes. The child cannot be 
said to perceive objects in any true sense until he has 
learned to react toward them. To react toward them 
means any sort of muscular reaction, either of limbs 
or eyes or ears, and all of these varied activities con- 
stitute perceptual habits. 

A case of perceptual development in adult life. — 



100 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

Most of our purely perceptual habits have been fully 
developed long before we reach an adult age. More- 
over, the development that takes place is usually so 
gradual as to take place without being noticed. Some 
light on this point may, how;ever, be gleaned from some 
illuminating experiments of Judd with the Miiller-Lyer 
illusion. In the light of these experiments the Miiller- 
Lyer illusion may be regarded as a case of undeveloped 
perception, for they show that a person may overcome 
the illusion through practice. 

The experiment was performed in the following 
manner: A and B (Fig. 21) represent two pieces of 
cardboard, each containing a portion of the illusory 
figure. When B is placed over A in such a position that 
the horizontal lines are in one and the same straight 
line, the Miiller-Lyer figure is obtained in one of its 
ordinary forms. A person who did not know of the 
illusory character of the figure Was asked to set the 
cards so as to make the two horizontal lines seem equal. 
By measuring the two lines after this had been done, 
the experimenter could find out the amount of his 
subject's illusion. This process of setting the cards 
w'as repeated time after time without the subject being 
allowed to know the results of the measurements. It 
was found that after many trials made in this way 
the illusion disappeared, the cards being finally set so 
that the two lines were practically equal. The sub- 
ject actually saw the figure in a different way, although 
he was not aware of the change. Perceptual develop- 



PERCEPTION 



101 



ment had taken place in the course of the manipulation 
of the cards. 

But this account of what takes place in the develop- 
ment of perception is not finished with the description 
of the change in the sensory processes. Along with the 




Fig. 21. 

development in the perceptual process there develops 
a new habit of looking at the figure, as can be shown 
by photographing the eyes by means of a kinetoscopic 
camera. The movements of the eyes in following the 
lines of the figure were photographed before and after 
practice. The results show that the eyes move quite 
differently in passing along the lines after the illusion 



102 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

disappears. Whereas at first the movements are im- 
peded at the parts of the figure where the acute angles 
occur, after practice the eyes move smoothly along at 
these points. A new habit of eye movement has de- 
veloped as a result of the practice. 

Illustration from child life. — The way in which the 
sensory and motor processes of perception develop to- 
gether has been well illustrated by Angell as follows: 

Let us take the possible course of events involved 
in a baby's acquiring the perception of a bell. Obvi- 
ously the visual factors involved cannot be satisfac- 
torily employed until some control has been attained 
over the eye muscles, so that the child's eyes are able 
to converge and follow an object. This attainment is 
commonly achieved about the third or fourth week of 
life, although there is great variation here. If the child 
never touched the bell and never heard it, he might still 
learn to recognize it, when he saw it, as something he 
had seen before; but he evidently would have no such 
perception of it as you or I have. As a matter of fact, 
the bell will be put into his hand, and during the ran- 
dom movements of the hand his eye will sometimes fall 
upon it. The occasional repetition of this experience 
will soon serve to fix the association of the touch- 
hand-movement feelings with the visual consciousness 
of the bell, so that the thing seen will inevitably sug- 
gest the thing felt and moved, and vice versa. More- 
over, all the time this has been going on there have 
been sensory stimulations of sound from the bell. This 
group of elements, therefore, becomes annexed to the 
rest of the group, and straightway we have the rudi- 
ments of the process by which, when we see or touch 



PERCEPTION 103 

or hear a certain kind of object, we promptly perceive 
it as a bell, i. e., as a something to which a certain mass 
of familiar experience belongs. 

In this description may be seen the two ways in 
which the child begins to acquire a mastery over the 
world of objects around him. The development is both 
sensory and motor. Not only does the group of sensa- 
tions from the object become organized into a unified 
whole with a definite meaning, but an organized re- 
sponse or habit is developed. Furthermore, the sen- 
sory and motor sides of the process are parts of a total 
process that is itself unified and organized. In other 
words, perception and the motor response develop to- 
gether, and the meaning of the experience is bound up 
not only with sensory impressions but also with the 
adjustments to which they give rise. 

Apperception. — We have seen that there are two 
phases to the process of perception: (1) the reception 
of sensory impressions and (2) giving to these impres- 
sions a meaning or interpretation. While the second 
part of the process is essential to perception, some 
writers use a separate word — apperception — to distin- 
guish this aspect of perception from the mere recep- 
tion of sensory impressions. Apperception is, then, 
the process of assimilating present experiences to the 
whole background of former experiences. Since new 
experiences are always interpreted or given a meaning 
in the light of old experiences, the new can be cor- 



104 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

rectly interpreted only if the person has the correct 
background of former experiences. For this reason 
it is of little use to present new experiences to the child 
unless his mind is prepared for the reception of the 
new facts. One cannot properly take for granted that 
the child has the correct background of experience for 
the proper interpretation of any new material what- 
ever. Careful investigations of what the child knows 
when he enters school shows that the children of one 
neighborhood differ very much from those of another 
in their knowledge, and that one individual child dif- 
fers much from another in this respect. Many city 
children, for example, know nothing of natural ob- 
jects that much of the instruction of the school takes 
for granted. Girls and boys differ very much in rela- 
tion to the kind of things they know. 

These facts are the more important since it is a well- 
known tendency of the child, with his limited experi- 
ence, to fall back on pure fancy for the meanings that 
he gives to new experiences. This is especially true 
of the meanings of words for which the child has not 
had the corresponding concrete experiences. It is a 
tendency of the human mind — and, as we shall see 
later, a very useful tendency — to supplement the gaps 
in our knowledge by imagination. But in the child 
this tendency is a weakness, since it leads him to ac- 
cept all sorts of fanciful meanings that give rise to error. 
The child lacks the wide experience and the critical 
judgment necessary for curbing the flights of imagina- 



PERCEPTION 105 

tion. The same tendency and weakness give rise to 
children's lies, many of which are not so serious from, 
the moral point of view as is sometimes thought. They 
point to intellectual weakness and lack of development 
rather than to moral obliquity. 

All of this goes to show that the child needs a first- 
hand knowledge of concrete objects and situations. 
Intellectual development begins with and is based on 
perception. Each sense brings us a knowledge of the 
external world that can be obtained in no other way, 
and so all the so-called higher intellectual processes, 
such as memory, imagination, conception, judgment, 
and reasoning, are dependent on the data given by 
these senses. The only substitute for actual contact 
with objects and events is through some form of sym- 
bol (pictures, maps, models) or word symbols. At 
best the symbol is a poor substitute for the actual 
thing; but a word is an absolutely empty symbol with- 
out first being connected with the proper experience, 
since it in no way is like the object and can represent it 
only by convention. 

References 

CoLViN, S. S. The Learning Process. Chapters V, VI. 

(Macmillan, 1911.) 
Hall, G. S. Aspects of Child Life and Education. 

Pp. 1-52. (Ginn, 1907.) 
JuDD, C. H. Psychology. Chapter VIII. (Ginn, 

1917.) 



106 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

Meumann, E. The Psychology of Learning. Chapter 

IV. (Appleton, 1913.) 
Whipple, G. M. Manual of Mental and Physical 

Tests. Chapter VIII. (Warwick and York, 1910.) 



CHAPTER VI 
MEMORY AND IMAGINATION 

The mental image. — A mental image is the experi- 
ence of objects that are not at the time stimulating 
the sense-organs. One may close the eyes and yet call 
to mind the visual appearance of an object. One may 
have in one's consciousness a melody that is not actu- 
ally the result of present hearing. So, too, there are 
mental images belonging to each of the other sensory 
spheres, olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), tactual 
(touch), etc. 

While mental images do not depend upon present 
stimulation of the sense-organs, they nevertheless de- 
pend upon former sensory stimulations. It is impos- 
sible to have a mental image except in so far as the 
elements of the image have been experienced through 
the senses. A person born blind does not have any 
visual mental images. Such a person cannot even 
imagine what a visual mental image is like. None of 
us could imagine in any adequate way what an ex- 
perience would be like which depended on some sense- 
organ that we do not possess. Mental images are re- 
productions or revivals of past sensor>' experiences. 

Imagination. — Mental images, however, may be 

107 



108 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

formed from new combinations of old elements, and 
in this sense they are new. When this recombination 
or reconstruction of the old elements has taken place 
in mental imagery, the process is called imagination. 
The results of imagination vary all the way from pure 
fancies, such as sea-serpents or centaurs, to historical 
romance and scientific invention. 

It is probable that mental images, even in the form 
of memory images, are never absolutely faithful re- 
flections of the past. A mental image is never more 
than a representation of what has been already ex- 
perienced. But it has also the advantage of being 
made over to suit the individual's own convenience. 
This reconstructive process always goes on to some 
extent. Ask two persons who have witnessed the same 
events to recount them, and they will differ, often very 
vitally. Not only have they observed the events dif- 
ferently, but they have remembered them differently. 
They put a different emphasis on what has been ob- 
served, and the result is the discrepancies in their ac- 
counts. 

Memory. — When the mental images are recognized 
as coming from the past, they are known as memories. 
Memories range from events that are definitely lo- 
cated in time and place to facts that have been learned 
and are merely referred to the past, though not 
definitely. 

Behavior based on images indirect. — It will be seen 
that mental imagery arises, not immediately from our 



MEMORY AND IMAGINATION 109 

experience of objects, but indirectly. For this rea- 
son, behavior based on mental images is related not 
so much to the immediate environment as to what has 
happened in the past and what may happen in the 
future. Man, because of the capacity for forming these 
images, becomes independent of his immediate en- 
vironment. His conduct may have reference to fu- 
ture ends, and may be governed according to past ex- 
perience to a greater extent than is the case with 
animals incapable of forming mental imagery. 

It is at this point that man begins to be most sharply 
differentiated mentally from the lower animals. For, 
even though it may possibly be true that some of the 
higher of the lower animals have this capacity, never- 
theless their behavior is for the most part called forth 
by the immediate stimulus of external objects. On 
the other hand, all of man's most significant behavior 
is made on the basis of future ends and in the 
light of past experience. For example, man pro- 
vides food and shelter because he foresees their ne- 
cessity. Some of the lower animals, like squirrels and 
bees, lay up a supply of food, but their actions in this 
respect are instinctive and probably imply no pictur- 
ing to themselves of the future occasions when the 
food supply will be needed. 

It is in this way that man becomes to a large ex- 
tent independent of his environment. He learns his 
environment as it actually is through perception, and 
reconstructs it mentally. His actions are then gov- 



no PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

erned by these mental reconstructions. Man is thus 
free to act according to inner motives and conditions 
of his own making, while the lower animals are bound 
by their immediate circumstances and the compulsion 
of external events. 

Some learning does not involve true memory. — 
While this statement is true, it must not be thought 
that the lower animals cannot profit by past experi- 
ence. Animals far down in the scale of animal crea- 
tion are capable of learning. It might be said that this 
implies memory on the part of such animals. It is 
true that it implies at least retention; but, properly 
speaking, memory involves more than mere retention. 
It involves recognition, a conscious reference of the 
experience to the experiencer's past. As we have al- 
ready seen, past experience alw'ays enters into the in- 
terpretation of the sensory data in the process of per- 
ception. But there is no consciousness in such cases 
of the part that past experience is playing. The past 
experiences connected with the objects perceived have 
become so organized into the present experience as 
not to be a recognizable factor except by such an an- 
alysis as we made in discussing perception. 

Conditions of revival. — Theoretically every percep- 
tual experience we have ever had is capable of being 
revived at some time in some form of mental image; 
but practically only a limited number of these experi- 
ences are actually revived. Since the practical use- 
fulness of the ability to form mental images depends 



MEMORY AND IMAGINATION HI 

upon the possibility of reviving the earher experiences 
when most needed, it is of the utmost importance that 
we should know what the conditions for revival are. 

Mental images form a related series. — First of all, 
we note that our mental images do not usually occur 
in purely haphazard fashion, but are suggested either 
by something we hear or see or otherwise experience 
perceptually, or else by some other mental images. 
Here as elsewhere in our mental life, the processes are 
not separate and independent, but are related to one 
another; they form a related series or train of proc- 
esses. 

It may perhaps be questioned whether all of our 
mental images are suggested by other experiences. 
Things frequently seem to "pop into the head," as 
we say. In many of these instances a little careful 
introspection will show that there were really present 
some experiences that have escaped our notice, and 
these are the experiences that have suggested the ap- 
parently sudden thought. In other instances, however, 
as in the persistent revival of a melody that keeps 
running in the head for a long time, the mental images 
seem to be revived merely because of their own strength 
and not because they have been suggested by anything 
else. 

Law of association — The general rule, however, is 
for mental images to occur by virtue of other experi- 
ences with which they have been associated. This 
principle is usually referred to as the law of associa- 



112 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

tion, which states that when two experiences have 
occurred at the same time or successively the revival 
or recurrence of one of them tends to revive the 
other. The revival of the second experience is the more 
likely to occur the closer the association that has been 
formed between the two experiences. The closeness 
of the association will depend on various factors which 
will now be described. 

Recency. — Other things being equal, the more re- 
cently the experiences occurred together the more 
likely are they to recur together. While we do not 
exactly know what brain processes are at the basis of 
association, it seems that connections of some sort 
must exist between the nervous elements whose func- 
tioning is related to the associated mental images. We 
have already learned to look for the connections be- 
tween neurones at the synapses, and we have seen that 
there is evidence that the resistance of the synapses 
between various neurones varies with use. It would 
appear that the synapses between the neurones that 
we are now considering are the more open to the pas- 
sage of the nervous current the more recently they 
have been used. 

Much of what is known as learning consists in the 
formation of associations. It is, of course, trite to 
state that the more recently a thing has been learned 
the more likely is it to be remembered ; but to rely on 
this factor of recency in education, as in the case of 
cramming for examinations, is a bad practice, since it 



MEMORY AND IMAGINATION 113 

is productive of no permanent results. On the other 
hand, there are some circumstances, such as when facts 
or figures must be at one's disposal for a single occa- 
sion, when to rely on this factor is a useful method of 
remembering and perfectly legitimate. 

Frequency. — A factor in the process of forming 
associations that is of far more significance for learning 
is that of frequency. Other things being equal, the 
more frequently experiences have occurred together, 
the more likely are they to be revived together. The 
principle of the overcoming of resistance in the synap- 
ses by frequency of use has already been described in 
connection with the subject of habit formation. The 
same principle holds here. Indeed, it may jbe said 
that the process of association is only a special case 
of habit formation. Permanent associations cannot 
usually be established without frequent repetition; 
hence the necessity of drill in education. 

Vividness. — There is one way, however, in which a 
permanent association may be set up without frequent 
repetition. That way is by means of making the ex- 
periences come together in a vivid fashion. Anything 
is vivid to consciousness that is sufiiciently attended 
to. Hence, the better the attention to an associated 
series of experiences, the less frequently will it be nec- 
essary to repeat it in order to make it a permanent pos- 
session of the mind. Since vividness depends on atten- 
tion, the conditions for making effective use of this 
factor in forming associations will be the same condi- 



114 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

tions as relate to attention in general, and these will 
be discussed later. 

Primacy. — A special condition of vividness is pri- 
macy. Experiences met with for the first time are par- 
ticularly vivid, as expressed by the well-known phrase, 
"First impressions are lasting." For this reason it is 
extremely important that a learner should get what he 
is learning correctly the first time he meets with it. 
Otherwise, he not only has to break down an incor- 
rect association, but he also loses the advantage that 
comes from the strength of the first impression. 

Emotional tone. — The fourth factor governing the 
strength of associations is the feeling and emotional 
character of the experience. Experiences that arouse 
intense emotions are usually, though not always, on 
that account more easily remembered. In general, 
feelings of a pleasurable sort facilitate learning, and 
unpleasant feelings retard it. Since it seems to be a 
general law of our natures to forget what is unpleasur- 
able more easily than what is pleasurable, it is impor- 
tant that the learner's activity be of a pleasurable 
nature if the conditions make it possible. The pleasur- 
able feeling that usually accompanies learning is inter- 
est, which will receive separate treatment in the chapter 
on attention. 

Mental set. — There is still another factor determin- 
ing association, which may modify the effect of the 
factors already mentioned. Recency, frequency, viv- 
idness, and emotional tone describe conditions under 



MEMORY AND IMAGINATION 115 

which associative hnks were originally made. But the 
condition of consciousness at the time when the sug- 
gested image appears may be quite as important in 
determining its appearance as these past conditions. 
At any moment consciousness has a certain trend or 
direction representing the interest of the individual 
at the time. This mental set, or attitude, will be a 
factor in determining which of many possible asso- 
ciated images will appear. The word orange, if heard 
in the class-room when studying sensations, is likely 
to suggest the color; if heard at the breakfast- table, 
the fruit itself is more likely to be called to mind. 

It will be seen that this phase of the associative proc- 
ess is closely related to that aspect of perception 
which is sometimes called apperception. Indeed, this 
term is sometimes used to describe the influence of 
"mental set" in determining associative experiences. 
Each individual has his own particular mental sets, 
sometimes relatively permanent, sometimes temporary, 
which predetermine his associations in a certain way, 
varying with his occupation, moods, and interests. 

Amusing illustrations of the effect of "mental set" 
are sometimes obtained from those well-known "catch" 
questions where an attempt is made to predetermine 
a person's mind in a certain direction, with the object 
of making him make mistakes. Thus, if a person is 
asked to spell "to" the preposition, "too" the adverb, 
and "two" the number, and then to spell the name of 



116 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

the second day of the week, there is a great probability 
that he will think of Tuesday rather than Monday. 

It was this aspect of the mind's functioning which 
led the Herbartians to require the step of "prepara- 
tion" as the prerequisite to every inductive lesson. 
The purpose of the preparatory step is to give the pupil 
the proper "mental set" toward the new material of 
the lesson. By question and answer the teacher re- 
vives those of the pupil's former experiences that are 
likely to be of value in interpreting the new material, 
or supplies such information as is necessary for a 
proper understanding of the lesson. 

Free associations. — Most of the experimental in- 
vestigations of association have dealt with word asso- 
ciations. One method is that of so-called free asso- 
ciation. Here the subject is asked to begin with some 
word (let us say "play") and write as many words 
as come to mind in a certain time, one after the other. 
Under such conditions a surprising number of words 
are repeated by all who take the test. One investigator 
found that the hundred words that occurred most fre- 
quently in fifty such lists made up three-tenths of the 
total number of words. 

Another form of the free association method is that 
in wihich a list of certain words is given as the stimulus 
words and the time is taken for the response to each 
by means of a stop-watch. Many facts of importance 
in the mental life have been discovered by this method. 
It is found, for example, that some of the words re- 



MEMORY AND IMAGINATION ll7 

quire a much longer time for the response than others. 
Such words are usually discovered to be connected 
with experiences in the subject's life that have a strong 
emotional tone or that the subject for some reason 
wishes to conceal. A criminal, for example, would be 
embarrassed in responding to words suggestive of the 
crime, and this method has therefore been used to de- 
tect knowledge of crime. 

Such results are directly related to the views of 
Freud, W^ho holds that many mental disorders result 
from the undue repression of natural desires, espe- 
cially those of sex, or from experiences of a strongly 
emotional character which the person seeks to forget. 
These experiences frequently date from early child- 
hood and are, in fact, forgotten, but their effects still 
persist. The educational significance of Freud's views 
is in their warning against requiring the child to sub- 
mit to unhealthy repressions. In the discussion of 
instincts we have seen that educational ideals require 
that natural desires should be modified. The repres- 
sion of instinctive desires is not dangerous if wisely 
undertaken. In matters concerning sex relations, espe- 
cially, an atmosphere of greater frankness should exist 
between the child and the adult. Only in this way 
can our moral standard be preserved without running 
grave danger of injuring the mental life of the young. 

Controlled association. — The second form of the 
association experiment is that of limited or controlled 
association. Here the subject, instead of being allowed 



118 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

to respond to the stimulus word with any word he 
chooses, is required to respond as quickly as possible 
with one of a very few words that can fit the terms 
of the instructions. Common forms of this test are 
the part-whole, opposites, and genus-species tests. If 
the test is the part-whole test, the word "tree" would 
be a correct response to "branch"; if the opposites, 
"shut" would be followed by "open" ; if genus-species, 
"tree" would bring the response "maple" or "oak," 
etc. Tests in arithmetical computations (addition, 
subtraction, etc.) are illustrations of the strictly lim- 
ited form of association, since the response in each 
case is limited to the only one that is correct. Table 
I gives the results of the genus-species tests in terms 
of the scores made by children from eight to sixteen 
years of age. The words used were door, pillow, let- 
ter, leaf, button, nose, cover, page, engine, glass. 

Table I 

Age 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Adults 

Median 6.5 7.8 7.8 8.7 8.7 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 10 

Individual differences in mental imagery. — It has 
already been pointed out that mental images may be- 
long to any one of the sense spheres. It has been dis- 
covered that different individuals think about the same 
things by means of different kinds of mental images. 
Thus some individuals seem to prefer visual images, 
others auditory, and others tactual, etc. Usually the 
preference for a certain class of imagery is not so great 



MEMORY AND IMAGINATION 119 

as to preclude all other kinds of mental images, but 
a marked preference may exist. One who thinks pre- 
dominantly in terms of visual images is called a vis- 
ualist; the audile is one who prefers auditory imagery; 
the tactile prefers tactual imagery; and the motile is 
one whose images are chiefly revivals of muscular sen- 
sations. In many cases two or even more of these 
forms of imagery may occur simultaneously. 

If, for example, a person forming a mental image of 
an orange sees "in his mind's eye" a colored object, 
round in form, he is using the visual form of imagery. 
Another person in thinking of an orange might think 
of its touch qualities, such as the roughness of the skin, 
as it would appear if passing the finger-tips over 
its surface. This would be a tactual image. Un- 
doubtedly there would be other persons whose images 
of an orange would be revivals of its taste qualities — 
that is, gustatory images. 

An object is frequently thought of without forming 
any image of the qualities of the object itself, but rather 
of the word standing for the object. In thinking of 
an orange a mental image of the sound of the word 
"orange" (auditory image), the visual image of the 
word as printed or written, or the revival of the sen- 
sations from the speech muscles (kinaesthetic image) 
as they would be used in pronouncing the word may all 
be used as substitutes for the direct image of the object. 

Word imagery. — A great deal of mental imagery is 
thus not directly concerned with objects at all, but w'ith 



120 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

words. Word images are much more convenient for 
purposes of thought than thing imagery. One reason 
for this is that thought frequently has to do with that 
which cannot be experienced in the form of objects. 
For most persons it is more convenient to think of 
electricity through the medium of the word than to 
imagine it as an object. Many persons doubtless do 
have imagery of a definite kind in thinking of elec- 
tricity — but most do not. The word image for the 
latter group becomes a convenient substitute for thing 
imagery. It carries the meaning. So, too, of all sorts 
of relationships that we have to represent to ourselves 
in thinking. They are much more easily thought in 
the form of word images. 

The individual differences in mental imagery are 
found in connection with word imagery as well as thing 
imagery. Perhaps the majority of people think in 
terms of auditory-motor word imagery. Others, how- 
ever, have visual pictures of the printed or written 
words. Some public speakers, for example, see in their 
mind's eye the words as written on their manuscripts. 

Number forms. — Individual differences in imagery 
are well illustrated by a way of imaging numbers and 
the alphabet, the days of the month, and so forth, 
which is peculiar to some people. The most common 
of such ways of imaging are those known as number 
forms. Those persons who have number forms think 
of the numbers as arranged in a certain spatial order. 
Fig. 22 represents one of these forms. The individual 



MEMORY AND IMAGINATION 



121 



who has this form thinks of 1 as being spatially located 
in the direction from 2 indicated in the figure. Each 
of the other numbers has also its definite place in the 
scheme. 

Some of these individuals think of the numbers or 
letters of the alphabet as having characteristic colors. 
-^ Such imagery is probably too concrete to 
be as useful as the ordinary types of 
imagery, where the vagueness of the image 
helps it to fit many similar situations and 
thus make it more easily a general notion, 
that is, one that will stand for many situ- 
ations of the same kind. On the other 
hand, those who have such imagery fre- 
quently assert that it is most useful for 
certain purposes, such as keeping engage- 
ments and remembering dates, etc. Num- 
ber forms and personifications are prob- 
ably more common in younger people and 



dud. 




Fig. 22. Illustrations of visual forms of days in the week and of 
numbers. 

are largely outgrown as the person gets to be more 
abstract in his thinking. 



122 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

Imagination. — The term imagination in its widest 
sense is the image-making faculty. In this sense 
memory images are particular classes of the process of 
imagination, viz., those where the images reproduce 
with fidelity a former experience. In so far as images 
appear in consciousness that are not faithful repro- 
ductions of past experiences, they may be described 
as belonging to imagination in the narrower sense of 
the word. Imagination in the narrow sense comes 
close to the popular use of the word as that which is 
purely fanciful. The fanciful or unreal character of 
some mental images arises through the ability to 
combine in consciousness elements that have been 
experienced only separately in perception. Thus the 
words "the cow jumped over the moon" in the nursery 
rhyme bring up imagery that is purely fanciful, because 
they combine experiences that can be combined only 
in the form of mental imagery. Even such imagery, 
which is contradictory to all sensory experience, is, 
however, frequently of value because of the enjoyment 
to be obtained from these novel combinations. 

Function of imagination. — The ability to recon- 
struct and recombine in thought is, however, of much 
greater importance than that of mere enjoyment. 
Imagination finds its chief function in those cases where 
it is possible actually to modify our environment so as 
to make it accord with our mental images, as in inven- 
tions. Other cases of a similar sort are those where one 
looks ahead to certain possible situations, by forming 



MEMORY AND IMAGINATION 123 

images of that which is likely to happen and makes 
preparation for the future in this way. Take, for exam- 
ple, the complicated preparations necessary for a polar 
expedition, which are possible solely because of the 
ability to imagine what is likely to happen. In such 
forms of the imagination man goes much beyond the 
stage of mere fanciful imagination useful only for pur- 
poses of enjoyment. He has the capacity thereby "to 
look before and after" — "to prepare for war in time 
of peace." As far as we can tell, the lower animals 
are able to do this to a very limited extent, most of 
their provisions for the future being purely instinctive. 

Furthermore, many of the most important scientific 
facts can never be directly experienced through the 
senses. They must, in other words, be imagined. 
Ether, electricity, gravity, atoms, etc., are all facts that 
could be experienced in no other way. Imagination 
helps to fill in the gaps of our sense experience, and 
thus gives a truer picture of reality than the senses 
can without its aid. The truth of the picture in such 
cases is dependent largely on w'Jiether these products 
of the imagination actually correspond with, and do 
not contradict, those sense experiences on which they 
are built. 

Development of imagination. — This last statement 
gives the proper clue to the cultivation of the 
imagination. It is known to everybody who has 
studied children that they revel in imaginary experi- 
ences. Two extreme views have been held with regard 



124 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

to the wisdom of cultivating this tendency, both of 
these views being the result of psychological miscon- 
ception. According to one view, since imagination is 
false and impractical in its results, the child's tendencies 
in this direction should be restrained. Fairy stories 
and myths should be replaced by 'Vhat is true." The 
other view holds that, since imagination is natural to 
the child and since it is a useful function, it should 
be cultivated as much as possible, and one should be 
careful not to break into the fancies of childhood by 
the introduction of prosaic reality. 

The truth that follows from a correct analysis of 
the situation has been foreshadowed in our earlier 
treatment of this subject. Imagination is a useful 
function in so far as it leads to useful activities. Not 
every fancy, therefore, contributes to a useful end, but 
only those that may be made to conform to reality 
either by leading to actual constructions or by furnish- 
ing products of imagination that are useful because 
of their literary, artistic or scientific character. It is 
when the child is not taught to distinguish sharply 
between the truth and falsity of his imaginations that 
harm arises from a cultivation of the imagination. 

Furthermore, it should always be remembered that 
imagination is dependent for its content on sensory 
experience. The cultivation of imagination, therefore, 
requires rich and varied experience of the world of 
external objects and events. Such means of develop- 
ing those forms of imagination that we call scientific 



MEMORY AND IMAGINATION 125 

and practical are clearly necessary. But the following 
testimony from a great writer of fiction, Sir Walter 
Scott, shows its necessity in cases that we ordinarily 
regard as far removed from sensory experience. While 
visiting a certain Mr. Morritt, Scott said to his host: 
"You have given me materials for romance: now I 
want a good robber's cave, and an old church of the 
right sort." "We rode out," says Mr. Morritt, "and 
he found what he wanted in the ancient slate quarries 
of Brignal and the ruined abbey of Eggleston. I ob- 
served him noting down even the peculiar little wild 
flowers and herbs that accidentally grew around and 
on the side of a bold crag near his intended cave of 
Guy Denzil; and could not help saying that, as he 
was not to be on oath in his work, daisies, violets and 
primroses would be as poetical as any of the humbler 
plants he was examining. I laughed, in short, at his 
scrupulousness ; but I understood him when he replied 
that in Nature herself no two scenes were exactly alike, 
and that whoever copied truly what was before his 
eyes would possess the same variety in his descriptions, 
and exhibit apparently an imagination as boundless as 
the range of nature in the scenes he recorded ; whereas 
wihoever trusted to [purely fanciful] imagination 
would soon find his own mind circumscribed and con- 
tracted to a few favorite images, and the repetition of 
these would sooner or later produce that very monotony 
and barrenness which had always haunted descriptive 



126 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

poetry in the hands of any but the patient worshipers 
of truth." 1 

References 

Angell, J. R. Psychology. Chapters VIII, IX. 

(Holt, 1910.) 
JuDD, C. H. Psychology. Chapters XI, XII. (Ginn 

& Co., 1917.) 
Meumann, E. Psychology of Learning. Chapters V, 

VI, VII. (Appleton, 1913.) 
PiLLSBURY, W. B, Essentials of Psychology. Chapter 

VIII. (Macmillan, 1911.) 
NoRSwoRTHY and Whitly. Psychology of Childhood. 

Chapters VIII, IX. (Macmillan, 1918.) 

' Quoted by Bolton, Principles of Education. 



CHAPTER VII 
CONCEPTION 

Conception. — The relating of experiences to one 
another is of the very essence of the mental life and 
manifests itself from the beginning. If the hypo- 
thetical first moment of consciousness is, as James 
believes, "a blooming, buzzing confusion" — merely 
a vague mass of sensations bare of meanings — from 
that moment forward such masses of experience begin 
to be broken up (analyzed) and the parts related 
to one another (synthesized). Insofar as these 
processes have to do with sensory experiences exclu- 
sively, the relating activity brings about the develop- 
ment of perception of objects in the manner described 
in Chapter V. 

But along with the relating of sensory qualities into 
the forms of unity and space there is going on another 
relating process, which finds its chief manifestation in 
the higher processes of thought and is their indispen- 
sable foundation. While the perception of an object, 
in so far as the perception itself is concerned, is always 
the experience of a particular object, the object is 
usually at the same time identified and placed mentally 
as belonging to a class of objects. The table at which 

127 



128 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

we are looking, for example, is not merely this perceived 
object. It is included mentally in a whole group of 
objects, some of them quite unlike in many respects 
the one now being looked at. The process of marking 
off a thing in thought, of identifying it or classifying it, 
is conception. 

Abstract ideas. — Concepts that refer to classes of 
objects are sometimes called general idea^. Those that 
refer to qualities and relationships are called abstract 
ideas, since they are abstracted or separated in thought 
from the objects to which they belong. The quality 
of whiteness, for example, may be thought of as a 
separate quality that is classed with the similar quality 
of other objects. A concept may refer to objects, 
qualities, activities, and relationships that have never 
been and by the very nature of things never can be 
experienced perceptually, such as God, gravity, atoms, 
electricity. 

Words are conceptual signs. — It is evident that the 
process of conception is closely bound up with language. 
To name a thing is to identify and classify it. Further- 
more, it is much easier to identify and classify a thing 
if it is possible to name it, so that language is not 
merely a means of communicating ideas from one indi- 
vidual to another, but it is an aid to thinking. The 
reason for this appears as soon as we make an analysis 
of the concept. 

Analysis of the concept. — If we attempt to discover 
just what mental content is in our minds when we use 



CONCEPTION 129 

the word "tjble," it will be found that individuals differ 
greatly from one another and that the same individual 
may have an entirely different content at different 
times. Usually, however, some kind of mental image 
is present. This image may be either visual or some 
other preferred form of image. Perhaps it is an image 
of a particular table that may even be recognized, as 
in the case of the memory image. In other cases the 
image will be vague and fleeting and may not call to 
mind any particular object of the class. The essential 
thing, however, in all these cases is that the image 
carries with it a general meaning; it represents any 
object of the class. 

By far the most common form of image present 
under such conditions is some kind of word imagery. 
The meaning is conveyed by the reproduction in the 
mind of the visual appearance of the word "table" as 
printed or written; or the sound of the word as pro- 
nounced may be present as a mental image; or the 
image of the muscular contractions used in pronouncing 
the word may be the preferred form; or, finally, any 
of these forms may be combined with others or with 
the thing imagery mentioned in the last paragraph. 

Word imagery has an evident advantage over thing 
imagery for the purpose of conveying general mean- 
ings; for an image of an object is always an image of a 
particular object, and therefore has characteristics that 
are quite different from many of the other objects of 
the class represented. In the case of the word, on 



130 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

the other hand, the general meaning attaches itself to 
the image more readily since the word is, of course, 
in no sense like the object represented by it. The word 
image is also a great aid in forming concepts of objects 
and relations that are not experienced perceptually. 

Meaning dependent on motor reactions. — How can 
any image that in itself is particular mean — that is, 
stand for or symbolize — a class of objects? The 
answer to this question carries us back to the perceptual 
experiences that are the foundation for concepts as 
well as the other higher processes involving mental 
imagery. In our study of perception we found that 
objects when perceived bring about characteristic motor 
responses. Objects of a similar kind are reacted to 
in similar w^ys. Chairs, whatever their shape and 
size, are sat on or to be sat on. Books are objects to 
be used in certain ways, tables in other ways, and 
pencils in still others. Our world of objects is so con- 
stituted that, in order to be successful in our dealings 
with them, it is necessary to act in a common way 
toward those that belong in the same class. 

Obviously, the motor activities that are present in 
perceiving objects are not always such externally ob- 
servable actions as those concerned in actually manipu- 
lating them. Ordinarily the motor responses end in 
muscular contractions that cannot be detected ; but, as 
we have already seen, sensory impulses always issue 
into motor tracts, and the entire muscular system is, 
therefore, in a continuous state of changing equilib- 



CONCEPTION 131 

rium. Consider the thousands of distinctly different 
motor reactions that give rise to vocal speech, which 
are also present in incipient form (inner speech) when 
the word is merely thought of. 

Now, not only does the percept carry with it a 
characteristic motor attitude, but the revival of the 
perception in the form of a mental image is also accom- 
panied by a motor attitude of a similar sort. Hence 
the meaning of the mental image may be a general 
meaning, notwithstanding the particularity of the 
image as such, because the meaning is the attitude 
that was attached originally to the perceived class of 
objects. Thus the image is merely a symbol and has 
a general meaning because it is associated with an 
attitude connected with a form of motor reaction 
common to all the members of the class of objects 
represented. 

Word meanings. — What is true of other forms of 
mental imagery is also true of word imagery, which 
gradually tends to become the typical bearer of mean- 
ings for most people. Language is a conceptual system 
in which the separate words are used to bear the 
meanings originally attached to objects, relations, and 
events. The word, being a pure symbol and in no 
sense a copy of the object represented, is peculiarly 
adapted to carry with it the general meaning. If the 
word "dog" can be used as a substitute in thought for 
the animal itself, it is because the word carries with 
it something of the same kind of motor response as 



132 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

would be evoked by actual sensory experience of the 
dog. 

Because of the infinite number of possible words, 
symbols can be made not only for perceivable objects 
represented by the nouns of a language, but of relation- 
ships and activities that are symbolized by the verbs, 
conjunctions, and prepositions. Each of these has its 
general meaning, so that it may become the means 
of communication as well as an aid to thinking. 

Development of concepts. — What has already been 
said implies that our ideas or concepts are gradually 
built up in the course of experience, and are continually 
changing. The meaning of the concept changes as 
experience broadens. Sometimes the meaning nar- 
rows so as to include fewer and fewer objects. For 
example, the child familiar only with cats will at first 
include dogs under the same category, but his further 
experience teaches him to differentiate them. Some- 
times the meaning becomes more and more inclusive. 
Contrast, for example, the astronomer's concept of 
"star" with the child's idea of the same object. 

Dangers of too hasty generalization. — Since con- 
ception has its roots in perception, it becomes obvious 
that there are dangers attendant upon too hasty 
generalization. No adequate concepts can be formed, 
for example, of scientific facts from merely learning 
words descriptive of science. The meanings of words 
can be made adequate only if the words have aroused 
the appropriate motor reactions. Now, it is true, as 



CONCEPTION 133 

we have seen, that concepts of a most valuable sort 
may be formed of what has never been experienced 
through the senses and can by the nature of things 
never be thus experienced. Indeed, it frequently hap- 
pens that our conceptions of things are quite opposed 
to our perceptions. This is because in perception we 
are limited to certain kinds of relationships, like those 
of unity, space, and time. Perceptually, the sun moves 
in the heavens and the earth stands still, yet we know 
that the reverse is true. We believe that the sun 
stands still and the earth revolves, because, in the 
first place, we have much other evidence that the mind 
may be deceived by merely trusting sense impressions, 
and, in the second place, the hypothesis of earth re- 
volving and sun standing still explains a number of 
other sensory experiences, like those of day and night. 
Were it not for this evidence we should regard the 
now accepted view of the relationship between the sun 
and the earth as the sheerest nonsense, the product of 
as idle a fancy as that of the cow jumping over the 
moon in the nursery rhyme. While, therefore, the 
conceptual process continually goes beyond the data 
furnished by perception, it is untrustworthy unless it 
can be made to square with the facts of sensory 
experience. Furthermore, there is grave danger that 
the meaning will be vague and uncertain if the concept 
is formed without being based on sensory experiences. 
Words are mere empty symbols if the necessary sensory 



134 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

experiences and their correlative motor reactions have 
not been used in building up their meanings. 

Concept of the self. — Among the concepts that play 
an important part in the life of all individuals is the 
concept of the self. Our descriptions of consciousness 
up to this point have been piecemeal. We have 
examined the various patterns exhibited by conscious- 
ness from moment to moment. In so doing we have 
disregarded to a large extent, for the time being, the 
unity that exists between one moment of consciousness 
and all other such moments. Throughout the chang- 
ing phases of consciousness from moment to moment, 
from day to day, and from year to year, we remain the 
same self. Each passing phase belongs to the total 
stream that we call ourself and that self, notwithstand- 
ing the changes, remains in some sense the same self. 

Bodily self. — This concept of the self, like other 
concepts, changes with experience, and is the result 
of gradual processes of development. The young child 
probably has no concept of self as the adult knows it. 
At first his consciousness is all of the type frequently 
characteristic of adults when the self is completely 
forgotten, as, for example, in watching a burning 
building, totally absorbed in the events going on around 
one. When the child first begins to think of himself 
as a self, it is of an objective or bodily self. Of all the 
objects that are perceived by the child, the body is the 
one most intimately connected with his experience. 
Unlike other objects, it is always with him. He cannot 



CONCEPTION 135 

escape from it. Many of his sensations, such as pain, 
come to him without any object of which he is aware 
being there to produce them, and these are referred 
to the body. When he touches his body the experience 
is quite different from that of touching other objects. 
He therefore begins to distinguish between the body 
and all other objects, and to think of his body as that 
peculiarly intimate thing, himself. 

Spiritual self. — As time goes on, even the body is 
looked upon from certain points of view as an object. 
Religious teaching and the ideas of older people in 
general lead the child to differentiate between his true 
self (soul or spirit) and the bodily self. Many kinds 
■of experiences, especially those connected with death 
and reflection upon the ultimate destiny of human 
beings, have been influential in making this concept 
of a spiritual self a generally accepted one. 

Memory and the self. — The most influential factor 
in establishing the view of the self as a unitary and 
persistent entity, notwithstanding the constant changes 
of consciousness, is that of memory. I am the same 
self as I was yesterday, and the day before, and the 
year before, because I can at the present moment call 
to mind earlier experiences and recognize them. 
Under certain conditions the nervous system may be- 
come so disarranged that memory of past events is 
wiped out. If this loss of memory is not merely tem- 
porary the person becomes virtually a different self, 



136 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

and we have the phenomenon of double or multiple 
personality. 

Certain experiences of the individual become split 
off from the main personality and are organized so as 
to form virtually a new self. Frequently the two 
personalities alternate, with practically no memory 
links between the two phases of the conscious life. 
Sometimes the secondary personality lasts for years, 
with no memory of the former self and with a prac- 
tically complete change in the character and behavior 
of the individual. 

Hypnosis. — Less striking, because more temporary 
and more under control, are the phenomena of hypno- 
tism where dissociation enters, causing a temporary 
forgetfulness of the normal waking self which is prac- 
tically complete. The experiences undergone during 
the state of hypnosis are also forgotten when the hyp- 
notized person is in his normal condition. The hyp- 
notized person is extremely suggestible; that is, an 
idea that comes to his mind is immediately acted on. 
If the suggestion is made during hypnosis that the 
hypnotized person act in a certain way after the ef- 
fects of hypnosis have passed, the person is likely 
to perform the action even though the circumstances 
in which the suggestion was given are forgotten. This 
has been made the basis of curative treatment for 
mental disorders and bad habits. For example, the 
drunkard is hypnotized and given the suggestion that 
in the future drinking will sicken him, or simply that 



CONCEPTION 137 

he must not drink. The efifect lasts over and in some 
cases may actually be the cause of reform. 

Subconsciousness. — One interesting point in such 
cases is that we have demonstrated here that the be- 
havior of an individual may be due to forgotten or 
unnoticed experiences. Not all of man's behavior is, 
therefore, related to the surface phenomena of con- 
sciousness, which are easily open to introspection, but 
many causes for action lie below the surface. As James 
has said in a passage quoted earlier, "Nothing we ever 
do is in strict scientific literalness ever wiped out." 
These hidden experiences which contribute their ef- 
fects in all our behavior are sometimes referred to as 
subconscious processes. 

Voluntary action. — The suggestibility of the hyp- 
notized person throws light on the relation between 
ideas and action. Any idea that comes into the mind 
under such conditions is acted upon. The results may 
be absurd and contrary to the person's usual mode of 
behavior, but the hypnotic efifect is such that each idea 
that comes to the mind has a clear track and issues in 
some corresponding action. Under normal conditions 
the idea works itself out in action in the same way to 
the degree to which it is the exclusive object of atten- 
tion. But usually more than one idea is present in 
consciousness at the same moment, each striving, so 
to speak, to bring about its appropriate action. Ac- 
tion is thus delayed by the presence of competing ideas, 



138 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

and what we call deliberation, reflection and choice 
ensues. 

References 

Angell, J. R. Psychology. Chapter X. (Holt, 1910.) 
Bagley, W. C. Educative Process. Chapters IX, X, 

XI. (Macmillan, 1906.) 
Dewey, J. How We Think. Chapter IX. (Heath, 

1911.) 
JuDD, C. H. Psychology. Chapters XI, XII, XV. 

(Ginn, 1917.) 



CHAPTER VIII 
THINKING 

Various uses of the term. — The words "thinking" 
and "thought" refer in every-day speech to those con- 
scious processes that are not of direct sensory origin. 
Sometimes they are primarily memory processes, as 
when a person says, "I am thinking of my old home." 
Sometimes thoughts are more of the nature of im- 
agination, as when it is said, 'T am thinking of the 
good time I expect to have on my vacation." Some- 
times, however, thinking refers to the process of ar- 
riving at conclusions or beliefs, as when we think out 
a problem or think what ought to be done when dif- 
ficulties present themselves. All of these cases of 
thinking are similar in that they consist of a chain or 
series of ideas rather than direct perceptions, and in 
each case the series of ideas centers about a common 
purpose or theme. But those instances of thinking of 
the type where problems are solved are of sufficient 
importance to demand special treatment. They are 
instances of rational or reflective thinking. 

One function of the school is to train the child to 
think. — While man has been called the rational ani- 
mal, thinking of the reflective type is relatively un- 

139 



140 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

common in the ordinary affairs of life. Our 
instinctive and habitual ways of acting are usually 
sufficient for dealing with the situations that present 
themselves from moment to moment. Occasionally, 
however, our usual modes of response are inadequate, 
and difficulties arise. Under such circumstances think- 
ing takes place, and direct action is delayed until the 
thinking is completed. One of the chief functions of 
the school is to create situations that demand think- 
ing of the reflective type. In every-day life such situa- 
tions are not only infrequent, but when they do occur 
they are usually of a more or less trivial character. 
In the schools, on the other hand, the pupil is con- 
tinually confronting problems to be solved, and, arti- 
ficial and formal as they often are, they are the chief 
means we have of training the thinking capacity in 
the young. 

An illustration of thinking in practical affairs. — 
Some illustrations may serve to make clearer the na- 
ture of reflective thought. Let us take, first, an ex- 
ample typical of those that occur in the ordinary 
affairs of life. I have made an engagement which 
requires that I shall be in the town of X, thirty miles 
away from my home, at 4:30 P. M. of a certain day. 
It is necessary to determine how to get there. On 
looking up the railroad connections, I find that there 
are only two trains that go to X from my home, and 
neither of these trains is convenient because one is 
too early for my engagement and the other too late; 



THINKING 141 

furthermore, there is no train that will bring me back 
that evening. I remember that X has railroad con- 
nections also with Y by a different line, and that Y 
can be readily reached by trolley ; but on looking up the 
time-table I find that the trains are quite as incon- 
veniently arranged as by the first route. Another pos- 
sibility is that of going by trolley all the way. This 
I dislike to do because of the time consumed, the lack 
of ventilation of cars likely to be crowded, etc. I 
might take a taxicab, but the expense is against this 
plan. It occurs to me that my friend A, who has an 
automobile, has relatives in X whom he occasionally 
visits. Perhaps he is contemplating such a visit and 
may be induced to make his visit coincide with my 
plans. A readily consents to this plan, and I am thus 
enabled to meet my engagement and return the same 
evening in a comfortable manner and without ex- 
pense. 

Dewey's illustration of reflection involving experi- 
ment. — Another illustration, given by Dewey, is more 
typical of those with which the teacher tries to con- 
front the pupil in his school work. In this case the 
problem would not be likely to occur spontaneously in 
the mind of a person not intellectually alert or trained 
in scientific methods of thinking. 

In washing tumblers in hot soapsuds and placing 
them mouth downward on a plate, bubbles appeared on 
the outside of the mouth of the tumblers and then 
went inside. Why? The presence of bubbles sug- 



142 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

gests air, which I note must come from inside the 
tumbler. I see that the soapy water on the plate pre- 
vents escape of the air save as it may be caught in 
bubbles. But why should air leave the tumbler? There 
was no substance entering to force it out. It must 
have expanded. It expands by increase of heat or by 
decrease of pressure, or by both. Could the air have 
become heated after the tumbler was taken from the 
hot suds? Clearly not the air that was already en- 
tangled in the water. If heated air was the cause, cold 
air must have entered in transferring the tumblers 
from the suds to the plate. I test to see if this suppo- 
sition is true by taking several more tumblers out. 
Some I shake so as to make sure of entrapping cold 
air in them. Some I take out holding mouth down- 
ward in order to prevent cold air from entering. Bub- 
bles appear on the outside of every one of the former 
and on none of the latter. I must be right in my in- 
ference. Air from the outside must have been ex- 
panded by the heat of the tumbler, which explains 
the appearance of the bubbles on the outside. 

But why do they then go inside? Cold contracts. 
The tumbler cooled and also the air inside it. Ten- 
sion was removed, and hence the bubbles appeared 
inside. To be sure of this, I test by placing a cup of 
ice on the tumbler while the bubbles are still forming 
outside. They soon reverse. 

The five steps in the thinking process. — An analy- 
sis of the above illustrations and all similar cases of 
reflective thinking shows that there are five steps, more 
or less distinct, though often merging into one an- 
other, in the course of the solution of such problems. 



THINKING 143 

These are (1) a perplexing situation, which causes a 
feeling of difficulty; (2) noting clearly the source and 
nature of the difficulty; (3) forming various ideas 
which may possibly solve the difficulty; (4) considering 
what the results would be if these various ideas were 
accepted; (5) further observation and (sometimes) 
experiment leading to the acceptance of one of the 
ideas and the rejection of the others. 

Training the child to look for problems. — In the 
first of our two illustrations the felt difficulty is forced 
upon the thinker because of the practical necessities 
of his daily life. In the second there is no such prac- 
tical motive for further inquiry: the occupation of 
dish-washing could proceed successfully without 
further ado. But to the active, trained mind every 
experience not understood is a challenge to thought. 
This attitude of active inquiry, having its roots in in- 
stinctive curiosity, may be either fostered or stifled 
by the atmosphere of the school. Among the more 
purely intellectual attitudes to be cultivated, there is 
probably none so important as that which leads to 
reflective thinking. Indeed, the attitude that leads to 
doubt, inquiry, and independent thinking has some- 
thing in it of moral quality as well as intellectual. 
He who comes to his beliefs, opinions, and knowledge 
dimply on the authority of others can scarcely be said 
to be honest. 

Importance of suspended judgment in thinking. — 
The second step in the thinking process is not always 



144 . PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

clearly defined. Frequently the first and second steps 
merge into each other, as in the first example given 
above, where the nature and source of the difficulty 
are evident from the outset. In many cases, however, 
it forms an important part of the necessary procedure. 
The difficulty with the solution of the problem fre- 
quently arises from not observing the facts that are 
present carefully enough. Thus, if an automobile 
engine stops running, all the occupants of the car are 
aware that there is a difficulty; but only those who are 
used to observing the way in which automobile en- 
gines usually run will have any clear indication of the 
source of the difficulty. The driver is likely to have 
observed certain indications of the difficulty, such as 
unusual sounds or vibrations, before the engine 
stopped, and such indications frequently show just 
where to look for the seat of the trouble instead 
of a blind process of guessing. As Dewey puts it: 
"The essence of critical thinking is suspended judg- 
ment; and the essence of this suspense is inquiry to 
determine the nature of the problem before proceeding 
to attempts at its solution." 

Importance of imagination in thinking. — The mind 
gets to close grip with its problem when suggestions 
of the possible solution of the difficulty begin to form. 
Clearly, the capacity most involved at this point is 
imagination. The mind makes a leap, so to speak, 
from what is actually perceived to ideas that will serve 
to explain the observed circumstances. The kind of 



THINKING 145 

imagiiiation needed here is, of course, not imagination 
in the popular sense of pure fancy, but in the form of 
ideas that are guided and controlled by the facts but 
that nevertheless go beyond them. It has already been 
pointed out that imagination of this profitable sort 
cannot be developed by fairy stories and the make- 
believes so zealously recommended by some parents 
and teachers. Abundance of sensory experience of the 
right sort, and continued application of such experi- 
ence in the formation of concepts that are embodied 
in laws, rules, and principles, is necessary. Doubtless, 
fertility of suggestion is much dependent on a person's 
innate ability, and is the mark of originality; but even 
the person of common-place mind may think out the 
greater part of his problems successfully if he has the 
necessary background of experience and training. Con- 
tinued application of such experience in the formation 
of concepts that go beyond the present in time and 
space and casual relationships are necessary. 

The fourth and fifth steps in reflective thinking. — 
The next step is that of determining what would be the 
necessary implications of the various ideas suggested. 
If such or such suggested solution of the problem is 
accepted, what consequences follow? The fifth step 
consists in determining whether the conditions found 
to be required by the fourth are actually present. If 
so the hypothesis is regarded as correct. If not it is 
rejected. Frequently it happens that new facts are 
noted which had hitherto been overlooked, tending to 



146 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

confirm the probability or improbability of the sug- 
gested hypothesis. Frequently, too, the suggestion 
itself is modified so as to make it conform to all of the 
facts observed to be present. The process of verifica- 
tion thus set up often leads to experiment where the 
conditions thought to be vital to the phenomenon are 
rigidly arranged and the consequences carefully noted. 
Here we get the highest type of scientific verification. 

Induction and deduction. — The third and fourth 
steps mentioned above are the very heart of the think- 
ing process, and taken together constitute the process 
of reasoning. The third step is of the nature of in- 
ductive reasoning. Induction is the process of pass- 
ing from particular facts to a general idea that com- 
prehends all of the facts. The results of the inductive 
process give us concepts, rules, principles, hypotheses, 
and laws. The value of such general principles is that 
they furnish a single comprehensive way of thinking 
about things and events that would otherwise be en- 
tirely isolated from one another. They give to us a 
way of thinking that can be used in any situation to 
which they are applicable, and when we have such 
comprehensive views of particular facts we say we un- 
derstand them — can explain them; for by means of 
them they are all connected with one another in their 
proper relationships. 

The fourth step constitutes the process of so-called 
deductive reasoning. When we apply a general prin- 



THINKING 147 

ciple, law, or idea to a particular case falling under it, 
we are said to proceed deductively. 

Thinking consists of associated trains of ideas. — 
Obviously the mental processes involved in thinking 
are concepts or ideas. One idea is followed by another, 
the whole constituting a series of associated ideas — 
all proceeding toward a certain goal, namely, the solv- 
ing of the problem. Thinking may go wrong either 
because false ideas have been taken for granted or 
because these ideas have been put together in wrong 
ways. Logic examines the proper procedure for cor- 
rect thinking, and constructs rules to guide the proc- 
ess. The ideas that are taken for granted are called 
the premises, and the outcome of the thinking the 
conclusion. Logic gives us rules for both the inductive 
and the deductive phases of thinking. 

Inductive vs. deductive methods of teaching. — 
Inductive and deductive methods of thinking have 
often been set over against each other as different 
methods of approach in teaching various subjects of 
study. Whenever we begin instruction by setting up 
general principles, rules, and definitions, and proceed 
to make these principles, rules, and definitions apply to 
particular instances, we are proceeding deductively. 
Whenever we take the reverse course of proceeding 
from particular instances to build up rules and defini- 
tions, we proceed inductively. Complete thinking, as 
we have seen, includes both the inductive and the de- 



148 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

ductive processes; but considerable differences in meth- 
ods of instruction frequently appear, according as we 
emphasize the one or the other method of approach. 
One might take as an example the general principle 
that metals are good conductors of electricity. A lesson 
in electricity that began with a statement of this prin- 
ciple and then proceeded to illustrate the rule with 
reference to various kinds of metals would be based on 
a deductive method of treatment. The inductive 
method of approach, on the other hand, would begin 
by the demonstration of the facts of conduction in the 
case of as many metals as could be conveniently tried 
out. It would begin with the concrete facts and build 
up the general principle from a consideration of the 
individual cases. This method has the advantage of 
carrying the student from what he already knows to 
what is unknown. The general principle, therefore, 
when arrived at has a fullness of meaning for him which 
would not be present where the statement of the prin- 
ciple is given without the background of concrete ex- 
perience from which it has been derived. The order of 
discovery of general principles is by the inductive 
method, and this method of teaching implies that each 
student should make the discovery for himself. On 
the other hand, if we begin deductively, the acceptance 
of the general principle on the part of the student must 
be made on the basis of the authority of the author of 
the text-book or the teacher. 



THINKING 149 

Doubtless there are times when it is advisable to 
teach rules and principles from the outset, either be- 
cause of the inability of the student to make the neces- 
sary induction, or because of the impossibility of se- 
curing the concrete evidence, or because this method 
will lead to more immediate results in the application 
of the principle; but in general the inductive method 
of approach is the more suited to the student's com- 
prehension and leads to more valuable habits of think- 
ing. 

Study in relation to thinking. — Much of what we 
call study in the schools properly implies that the pupil 
is or should be engaged in the process of reflective 
thinking. Usually, however, the facts, the problems, 
and the solutions are all presented to the pupil by the 
teacher or text-book. The student is simply required 
to think over again for himself the results of the 
thinking of others. If this is actually done by the pupil 
great gain results, but pupils often fail to realize that 
study is anything more than the mere memorizing of 
facts, problems, and solutions. Since the problem has 
not arisen out of his own experience, he neither rec- 
ognizes the problems nor takes the steps for their solu- 
tion, except in a mechanical way. In the recitation 
and the assignment of lessons, therefore, one of the 
teacher's chief functions is to stimulate the pupils to 
take the problem-solving attitude toward the material 
of the lesson. 



150 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

References 

Dewey, J. How We Think. (Heath, 1911.) 
Freeman, F. N. How Children Learn. Chapter XI. 

(Houghton Mifflin, 1917.) 
James, William. Psychology (Briefer Course). 

Chapter XXII. (Holt, 1919.) 
PiLLSBURY, W. B. Essentials of Psychology. Chapter 

IX. (Macmillan, 1911.) 



CHAPTER IX 
LANGUAGE 

Language derives its usefulness from indirect re- 
sults. — The great importance of language for human 
society and its intimate relationship to thinking make 
it desirable that its nature be considered in some de- 
tail. When considered apart from the meanings that 
words convey, language is simply a form of behavior. 
Oral speech consists of a series of contractions of the 
vocal muscles, just as movements of the arms or legs 
result from contraction of the appropriate muscles. 
Written language, from the same point of view, is 
merely the result of muscular contractions of the hand 
and arm. 

But the true significance of language does not arise 
from the direct results of these actions. If the arm 
is stretched out to pick up a book, the muscular action 
is directly useful. In the case of language, however, 
the importance of the muscular action comes from its 
indirect results. Action of the muscles in speech does 
nothing by way of affecting objects. Why, then, does 
this particular form of action become so important? 

Animal language. — It will aid us in answering this 
question if we attempt to discover something of the 

151 



152 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

origin of language and its manner of development. It 
is well known that some of the lower animals have 
means of communication with one another that may be 
regarded as forming a sort of language. Dogs give 
information to one another in a limited degree by 
means of their barking; deer give warning to their fel- 
lows by a toss of the head, and many other species 
of animals have their characteristic signs — in most 
instances, however, limited to signals of danger. 

Such language can scarcely be regarded as of the 
same nature as human language, although it does bring 
about similar results. It is probable that in most cases 
of animal behavior in response to signals of this sort 
the action is purely instinctive. Chicks hatched in 
an incubator, for example, will respond in the usual 
way shortly after birth to an imitation of the hen's 
danger call. Certainly it is true that the information 
conveyed from one member of a species to another is 
very limited. When the danger call comes, the animal 
simply acts in the way that is characteristic of that 
species when danger is present, without having any 
definite information of the nature and source of the 
danger. 

Human language began with natural signs. — The 
study of language shows that it has been the result 
of a gradual process of development from simple be- 
ginnings. Various theories have arisen to account for 
its origin, but all agree that, originally, spoken words in 
some way directly indicated what was intended to be 



LANGUAGE 153 

communicated by means of the sounds. For example, 
while the word "cat," to one who has not associated 
it with the animal, would have no significance, imitat- 
ing the mew of the cat would immediately suggest the 
animal to any one who had any acquaintance with 
cats. While the word "joy" would have no special sig- 
nificance to any one not knowing the English language, 
the cry of joy would be recognized by everybody. It 
seems probable also that originally many objects and 
situations instinctively evoked characteristic sounds 
among primitive peoples. The mere utterance of these 
sounds would, therefore, serve to suggest the objects or 
situations to the hearer. All such instances of primi- 
tive means of communication are illustrations of the 
use of natural signs to convey meanings, and are closely 
related to animal language in being an outgrowth of 
emotional reactions in the presence of exciting situa- 
tions. 

Gesture language. — In the early stages of language 
development gestures undoubtedly supplemented 
sounds to a greater extent than in the more developed 
languages of to-day. The gesture is, at first, also a 
natural sign of the object or act signified. Pointing 
to an object to which attention is to be drawn, or 
drawing in the air an outline of its shape, or imitating 
an action helps to communicate to an observer the 
meaning that it is desired to convey. 

Conventional signs. — Further development of lan- 
guage takes place through the gradual passing over 



154 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

of these natural signs into conventional signs, and the 
multiplication of conventional signs in a more or less 
arbitrary or accidental manner. As soon as this stage 
is reached, there is virtually no limit to the number 
of oral or gesture signs that may be used, for the mean- 
ing is now conveyed, not by any likeness of the sign 
to the thing signified, but as a result of common usage 
and agreement among the members of a community. 
The conventional meaning is, of course, not a result 
of any conscious agreement, but grows up gradually 
in the manner of other customs. 

Sign language of deaf-mutes. — The sign language 
of deaf-mutes furnishes an excellent example of the 
way in which natural signs pass over into conventional 
signs. Deaf-mutes who are untrained in alphabetic 
sign language fall back on the use of natural signs. 
These signs are so directly indicative of their mean- 
ing that deaf-mutes of different nationalities can un- 
derstand one another on meeting for the first time. 
Furthermore, these gestures are very similar to those 
in use by primitive peoples, who, although they have 
a spoken language, use a great many gestures. Wundt 
is authority for the statement that "gestures that refer 
to specific concrete objects are frequently so similar 
that many of the signs employed by the gesture lan- 
guage of the deaf-mutes of Europe may be found among 
the Dakota Indians." 

The following description shows two methods em- 
ployed by deaf-mutes to express the fact that two ob- 



LANGUAGE 155 

jects are different. The important point about these 
descriptions is that the first method is more of the 
character of a natural sign, while the second illustrates 
signs at a more conventional level. The more primi- 
tive method is: "The deaf-mute endeavors to place 
the two interesting objects side by side, and leads his 
interlocutor up to them; touching Ihe objects one after 
the other, he makes a sign of emphatic denial" (shake 
the head) "if A differs from B. 

"A more conventional form of gesture for expressing 
differences is as follows: Place both forefingers side 
by side, the other fingers being closed and the backs 
of the hands turned upwards, then move the hands 
away from each other, the forefingers pointing in oppo- 
site directions. The degree of difference is expressed 
by the rapidity and extent of the movement. A rapid 
and full sweep of the two fingers until the arms are 
extended at full length, if accompanied by an earnest 
gaze, means 'wide as the poles asunder.' A slow, hes- 
itating movement, with a look of uncertainty, indicates 
a small difference, only just noticeable, of no special 
interest." 

The simplification of natural signs. — As soon as the 
principle of using symbols, oral or gesture, which were 
not like the things symbolized became firmly estab- 
lished, there was virtually no limit to the degree to 
which oral and other signs might be used. Natural 
signs were changed, in the interests of simplification 
and ready use, into conventional signs. Because of 



156 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

the wide range of possible speech forms and the fact 
that the vocal muscles are not, like the hands, used 
for other purposes, oral language took precedence over 
gesture language. When languages become thus freed 
from the necessity of making their symbols like the 
things symbolized, they become not only a medium 
of expression but a means of thought as well. 

Obviously it is difficult to find natural signs for any- 
thing except the simplest objects and occurrences. 
Natural signs are suitable for expressing only a limited 
range of the more concrete happenings of the external 
world. Abstract ideas are either very difficult or im- 
possible of expression in this way. The deaf-mute 
takes a long time and much effort to express so simple 
an abstract idea as that conveyed by the one word 
"different." If it were necessary for him to express the 
kind of difference, it would become still more difficult. 
The more abstract the meaning to be conveyed, the 
more difficult it is without recourse to conventional 
language. 

Language not a definite instinct. — The child, in 
learning to speak, roughly parallels the development 
of racial language just outlined. It is a debatable point 
whether the child has any instinct of speech. Cer- 
tainly if there is such an instinct it must be very in- 
definite, for a child of any race will learn the language 
of any other if it is the only one he hears, and he will 
do this as readily as if it were the language of his 
parents. 



LANGUAGE 157 

Early steps in speech development. — The first 
sounds made by the child are of the nature of emo- 
tional expressions, such as the cry of pain. Soon, how- 
ever, he begins to exercise his vocal apparatus in "coo- 
ing" and "gurgling." In this babbling period there arise 
a variety of sounds that are made spontaneously and 
with no thought of communication. Nevertheless, by 
modification of these the first words are learned, and 
they therefore form the instinctive roots of speech. 
Thus, among the babbling sounds produced are such 
reduplications as md md and dd da, which the child 
learns to modify into "mama" and "daddy" under the 
influence of repetition of these sounds by adults. 
Gradually such sounds are given the conventional 
meanings because they are associated so frequently 
with the appropriate situation, object, or person. 

Imitative stage. — Starting with these fundamental 
spontaneous sounds as a basis, the child soon enters 
on an imitative stage of development of speech. At 
first the child imitates the words of others very imper- 
fectly and largely for the pleasure derived from the 
exercise of his vocal functions rather than for language 
purposes. He soon, however, begins to attach mean- 
ings to spoken words uttered by himself and others. 
This is the inevitable outcome of the fact that his most 
vivid and interesting experiences are almost always 
accompanied by spoken words. Those words are un- 
derstood most readily whose meanings are akin to the 
emotional expressions. At this stage the child's at- 



158 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

tempts at oral language are supplemented by gestures, 
especially by pointing. 

The great majority of the early words acquired are 
nouns, and when first used these words are generally 
made to do duty for entire sentences. For example, 
"Milk" ("Give me some milk"), "Down" ("I want to 
get down"). The arrangement of words in sentences is 
without much regard to conventional order and with- 
out proper reflection, as, for example, "Know what 
that?" "Salt on my" ("I want salt on my nuts"), 
"Grape want," "This what I play." At this stage 
the comprehension of the meanings of words used by 
others is far in advance of the number of words used by 
the child. 1 

Children's definitions. — It is interesting to nate 
that children in their early years almost always define 
words in terms of use. Thus an orange is "to eat," 
a chair "to sit on," a river means "where you get drinks 
out of and catch fish and throw stones in." Such facts 
give interesting confirmation to the view discussed 
in the last chapter that meaning is the counterpart of 
motor attitude. 

Oral speech usually quite fixed by school age. — By 
the time the child is of school age he usually is able to 
pronounce in the conventional way the words consti- 
tuting his vocabulary. Many children, however, even 
at this age need careful training in overcoming defects 
of speech, such as stammering, lisping, etc. The range 

* See Kirkpatrick, Individual in the Making. 



LANGUAGE 159 

of vocabulary varies greatly with individual children, 
depending on intelligence and the environmental con- 
ditions. Naturally, the child of a cultured home is in 
a position to make more rapid progress in language 
development. Making due allowance for these differ- 
ences in environment, it seems probable that language 
capacity is a fair indication of intelligence. 

Some investigators of the language development of 
children hold that there is a period of peculiar interest 
in language between the ages of eight and fifteen. At 
this period many children invent secret languages. 
This would seem to be a favorable time for learning 
foreign languages. At any rate, it is certain that as far 
as speaking a foreign language is concerned the earlier 
it is begun the better, for adults rarely learn to speak 
any language but their own without an "accent." 

References 

Dewey, J. How We Think. Chapter XIII. (Holt, 

1911.) 
JuDD, C. H. Psychology. Chapter X. (Ginn, 1917.) 

Psychology of High School Subjects. Chapter VII. 

(Ginn, 1915.) 
Stout, G. F. Manual of Psychology. Chapter V. 

(University Tutorial Press, 1915.) 
Waddle, C. W. An Introduction to Child Psychology. 

Chapter VII. (Houghton Mifflin, 1918.) 



CHAPTER X 

ATTITUDES— ATTENTION, FEELING, AND 
EMOTION 

Consciousness presents a characteristic pattern. — 
When consciousness is observed at any one moment, 
there is found to be present more than one percept, 
idea, feehng, or other conscious process. But these 
processes are arranged according to a certain pattern. 
There is always one process, or group of processes, that 
is most prominent and stands out with greater clear- 
ness than all others. Among these others there are 
also varying degrees of clearness. This aspect of the 
mental life is called attention. Attention is not a 
power within consciousness that makes it assume this 
characteristic pattern where some processes are cen- 
tral and others m.arginal. It is rather the name used 
for convenience in summing up in one word this par- 
ticular aspect of consciousness. 

Various figures of speech are frequently used to de- 
scribe the facts of attention. It may be said, for ex- 
ample, that those conscious processes that are most 
prominent are central and the others peripheral; or 
that the former are focal and the latter marginal. Those 
that are so far removed from the focus of attention as 

160 



ATTITUDES-ATTENTION, FEELING, AND EMOTION 161 

to be completely unnoticed, but that show their pres- 
ence by their subsequent influence, are sometimes said 
to be subliminal, that is, below the threshold of con- 
sciousness. Fig. 23 may be taken as a rough representa- 
tion of the facts. The central area stands for the point 
of greatest attention, while the outlying areas repre- 
sent, by their varying distances from the center and 
their different shading, the various degrees of clear- 




FiG. 23. 

ness of those factors that are outside the point of 
greatest attention. 

Let us suppose a person is writing at a certain mo- 
ment. The uppermost thing in his mind is the idea 
or thought to be expressed. This point occupies the 
focal point of attention. But at the same moment he 
may be conscious of the paper on which he is writing 
and the characters formed, though these are not no- 
ticed to the same degree as the thoughts he wishes to 
express. There wuU probably be many other processes 
vaguely present in consciousness at the same time — 
for example, sensations from contact of his fingers 



162 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

with the pen he is using, sounds from the street out- 
side, and many sensations from his own body, such as 
the discomfort due to the bent posture. 

Shifting of central and marginal factors. — One of 
the most interesting features of the attention process 
is the continual shifting that takes place between the 
central and the marginal factors. No one factor re- 
mains long in the point of greatest clearness, and the 
marginal elements frequently become central and a 
moment later give place to others. In this way a 
selection is being made from moment to moment of 
those experiences that are most significant for a per- 
son's needs. In the illustration jus* cited, for exam- 
ple, one thought follows another for some time, and 
the writing largely takes care of itself. But if doubt 
arises as to the spelling of a word, or if the pen be- 
comes dry, or if the pain in the back becomes too in- 
tense, any of these may demand attention to the ex- 
clusion of thought. 

The selective aspect of attention. — We are sur- 
rounded by all sorts of physical sources of energy, 
which are continually changing. Nature has equipped 
us through our sense-organs with the capacity to note 
some of these changes (though not all) and to govern 
our behavior accordingly. There will be, however, 
among these changes that are brought to consciousness 
some of more importance than others. These are se- 
lected in the sense that we become more clearly aware 
of them and react to them to the exclusion of the 



ATTITUDES— ATTENTION, FEELING, AND EMOTION 163 

others. Add to all these physical forms of stimulation 
the memories, thoughts, and feelings that are so promi- 
nent in the conscious life of man, and the need of the 
selective process of attention is still more apparent. 

Attending to more than one thing at a time. — 
It is probable that we never really attend to more than 
one thing at a time, though that one thing may be 
complex. The attention may, however, pass from one 
thing to another and back again so rapidly as really 
to amount to the same thing. The ability to do this is 
characteristic of some persons of more than ordinary 
ability, among whom was Julius Caesar, who is said 
to have been able to dictate four letters while writing 
a fifth. There is also the possibility of performing 
more than one activity simultaneously, provided some 
of them are so well learned that they do not require 
attention to them. In certain abnormal states some 
individuals perform activities, such as that of auto- 
matic writing, without even knowing that they are 
taking place. The extreme marginal elements in con- 
sciousness seem to be concerned in these activities. 

Classification of attention. — We have now to in- 
quire why we attend to some things and not to others. 
We may be aided in this inquiry by drawing a distinc- 
tion between spontaneous or passive attention and 
voluntary or active attention. Attention is said to be 
involuntary, passive, or spontaneous when it is given 
naturally and without effort or where we are interested 
in what is being attended to. Attention of this sort 



164 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

is almost always, though not invariably, accompanied 
by pleasurable feelings. Spontaneous attention may 
again be classified into (1) native or primary, (2) ac- 
quired or secondary. 

Inherited spontaneous attention. — Just as we found 
that our organisms have an original nature to behave 
in certain ways (instincts), so it is also true that it is 
a part of our original nature to attend to certain things. 
The first answer to our question of why we attend to 
certain things and not to others is, then, that it is 
natural to do so. It is a part of our inherited constitu- 
tions. We see this kind of attention clearly manifested 
in the child from the very beginning of his life. For 
example, from the time the baby begins to notice things 
about him, he follows with his eyes moving objects. 
His attention is caught by bright colors and loud noises. 
These are situations that tend to attract the attention 
all through life. Another type of attention-drawing 
situation is change of any sort. The clock-tick may 
remain unnoticed as long as it continues, but it is very 
likely to draw one's attention if it stops suddenly. Add 
to these situations all that call forth instinctive re- 
sponses, like those of imitation, play, curiosity, etc., 
and it will be seen that we are so organized from birth 
as to attend to a large number of different kinds of ex- 
periences, just as we are organized from the beginning 
to behave in certain ways that are the reflex and in- 
stinctive responses to various stimuli. 

The acquired form of spontaneous attention may best 



ATTITUDES— ATTENTION, FEELING, AND EMOTION 165 

be described after we have discussed voluntary or active 
attention. 

Voluntary attention. — In the third chapter it was 
shown that, besides the native capacity to behave in 
certain ways (instincts), we have the capacity for 
learning new modes of response (habits). So, too, with 
attention. We are fitted by nature to attend to cer- 
tain things, but we have also the general capacity to 
attend to that which is not natively interesting. This 
kind of attention requires effort, and it has therefore 
been called voluntary or active. The child soon learns 
to recognize the importance of attending to what is 
not immediately interesting because of its future value. 
This is increasingly true as he begins to live in a world 
of thoughts and ideas, as contrasted with perceptions. 
The importance of most of these objects of attention 
has been already discovered by parents and other older 
persons with whom the child comes in contact, and 
social pressure is brought upon the child to attend to 
these things. All forms of work and study are good 
examples of activities requiring voluntary attention. 

Acquired spontaneous attention. — But the simi- 
larity between behavior and attention in their develop- 
ment does not end here. The more frequently new 
forms of behavior take place, the easier they become; 
and the more frequently we voluntarily attend to a 
new form of activity, the easier it becomes. The effort 
becomes less and less; in other words, the attention 
becomes less voluntary until finally we reach a stage 



166 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

when an interest has been developed in the new thing 
or activity for its own sake. An acquired interest 
has been developed. We thus reach a stage of atten- 
tion which is like the native spontaneous attention in 
its effects, but which has had an entirely different 
origin, the one form being inherited, the other acquired. 

Perhaps no better illustration of the development of 
secondary passive attention can be given than to cite 
the interest that certain studies gradually acquire when 
persistently pursued. The development of interests 
of this sort is one of the teacher's chief duties. It must 
not be supposed that in any particular instance of at- 
tention it is easy to separate the factors that are native 
from those that are acquired. It is possible and even 
probable, for example, that the basis of interest in 
certain lines of study is inherited. It is undoubtedly 
true that individuals differ greatly in their inherited 
interests, and that there are important sex differences 
in this respect. 

Interest. — The word "interest" as commonly used 
has two somewhat different meanings. It may mean 
the pleasurable feeling that is present when we are 
attending spontaneously and without effort. Inter- 
est is also used, however, to designate those more or 
less permanent dispositions, both native and acquired, 
which cause a person to attend in a certain direction. 
It is in the latter sense that a person may be said to 
be interested in music or painting or geometry. From 
what has been said it should be clear that the teacher 



ATTITUDES— ATTENTION, FEELING, AND EMOTION 167 

cannot create outright an interest that does not exist. 
If the child is interested in any thing or activity, it is 
either because he has been endowed by birth with an 
inclination to be interested in that direction or be- 
cause he has developed it through former experiences. 

Conditions for attention must be present. — It 
would be no proper answer to our inquiry as to why 
we attend to this rather than that at any moment to 
reply that it is merely a matter of determining to do 
so. Active attention, like passive, is subject to condi- 
tions. Ideas, especially those that have a future ref- 
erence and those that express the purpose of the 
moment, past experience, and heredity all enter in as 
factors to determine the direction of attention. So, 
too, in the case of the secondary or acquired form of 
passive attention, its explanation is to be found in 
the individual's past history. In neither case is it 
possible to understand the act of attention by consid- 
ering only the present instance of its activity. For 
the child to give attention at any particular moment 
it is necessary either that his mind should have been 
prepared through past experience, or that he should 
be naturally interested in the object of attention, or 
both. 

Attention related to motor processes. — Attention, 
like other phases of the conscious life, is closely re- 
lated to muscular processes. There is a certain bodily 
"set" corresponding to each phase of the attention 
process. Thus in the visual sphere attention to an 



168 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

object involves the turning of the head and of the eyes 
so that they are fixated on the object (convergence) ; 
and also the muscular process of bringing the image of 
the object to a focus on the retina (accommodation). 
In listening attentively the drum membrane of the ear 
assumes a degree of tension suited to the character of 
the sound. Touch sensations are made clearer by ac- 
tive movements of the fingers, etc. Similar activities 
take place with smell and taste sensations. 

Furthermore, intellectual attention is also accom- 
panied by characteristic muscular processes. Changes 
in circulation and respiration are among the most im- 
portant of these. In momentary concentration of the 
attention, especially in listening, breathing becomes 
slower. Different persons have different bodily habits 
during intellectual attention, such as wrinkling the 
forehead, knitting the brows, doubling the fist, or 
clenching the teeth. The more intense the concentra- 
tion of the attention becomes, the more extensive and 
intense are these bodily changes. 

These bodily processes serve to reinforce and adapt 
the body for the particular form of attention to be 
given. They are, therefore, of prime importance in 
education. To adopt the correct attitude of attention 
is a primary requisite for arousing the attention itself. 
The inattentive ^ child may be aroused to attention if 

'Properly speaking, inattention is attention to something other 
than that which the teacher desires the child to attend. Under such 
conditions the passive form of attention is uppermost. 



ATTITUDES— ATTENTION, FEELING, AND EMOTION 169 

required to assume the proper bodily attitude. On the 
other hand, it is easy to overestimate the practical im- 
portance of movement. Children are much more given 
to energetic bodily expression of attention than are 
adults. They wrinkle their brows in working, move 
their lips, make movements with their heads and fin- 
gers to a much greater degree than adults. This seems 
to be a useless expenditure of energy which is later 
overcome. 

Attention and observation. — Attention to material 
objects and events, when methodically and carefully 
carried out, is sometimes referred to as observation. 
Some light is thrown on the development of attention 
and the other processes concerned in observation by 
experiments in description and report. These experi- 
ments are carried out by having the child observe one 
or more objects or a picture for a short time (say 
half a minute) and then describe what has been ob- 
served. Sometimes questions are also asked to supple- 
ment the report. From the results of such experiments 
Stern has described four stages or levels in the devel- 
opment of observation: (1) Substance stage. The 
young child merely enumerates the various persons 
and things he has noted one after another. There is 
no attempt to state any connection between these per- 
sons or things. (2) Action stage. The chief objects 
of attention at this stage, which begins at about the 
eighth year, consist of the activities of people. (3) 
Relation stage. Spatial, temporal, and causal relations 



170 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

an? Kpcvrtjed ax this sxag^?. which come? frv>m the twelf^ 
u^ the fc>urtJ?«ith j-^ar. v-i'i Quality stage. Hiially 
the prv>pefties i>f the things obser\-evi ar? analyied and 
noied. 

Stem iicMmvi that, in general, persons are much more 
apt to be ohs«^-ed than ihiugs. objects are mon? sqpt 
to be noted than their qualities and n?lationshii>s. and 
that ^p^tial idatioD^ips are more apt to be described 
^an eokars. Children are moie apt to jimip at con- 
dusions with legard to what they obseT\-e than are 
adults, and are more apt to be certain that they are 
ris^t even whe^ as a matter of fact they are wrong. 
They are more suggestible than are adults. 

Training in observation- — Training childnMi in 
observ-aiion ^ould not have as its purp»ose the impas- 
sible one of teaching the child to obsen^e the details 
of eventhing it is po«ssible to oheer\-e. Attention is a 
selectiA-e capacity*, and derives its usefulness in part 
£rom the fact that it concentrates on some things to 
tiie exdu^on of other?^ The ordinary affairs of life 
lead to the ol^ervation of those things and events that 
are most t^eeful fc*- our immediate purposes, but such 
obeerfation is too limited to meet the hi^^* demands 
of sooitifie knowledge and esthetic appreciation. Ac- 
cording^, ti^ie cMki needs training in obser\*ation. not 
for the sake of training his capacity for observ-ation in 
gsneraL but ior broadeaing his intoests in those real^ 
ssgnificant Uiings that would o&crwist^ be overlooked. 
Tn ordo* to do this the ciiili Tr.v.st be tsUiiT r.^t r^^r^y 



ATTITUDES-ATTEXTION, FEELING, AND EMOTION 171 

to observe but what to observe and what to look for. 

Feelings and emotions classified as "attitudes." — 
Attention has been oalle^J a selective attitude of mind. 
It Is that phase of conscious activity which emphasizes 
some one part of the conscious actiWty of the moment 
as the one to which we ^all react, and at the same 
time inhibits others from seeking their normal outlet 
in action. Among the other most important phases of 
consciousness that are also to be classified as attitudes 
are the feelings and the emotions. 

Siniple feelings accompany most of the other con- 
scious processes. — Simple feelings are among the 
most common aspects of the mental life. They are 
those experiences of pleasantness and unpleasantness 
which accompany nearly all, if 'not all, of our other con- 
scious processes. Sensations, for example, almost al-* 
ways have a feeling tone of some degree of pleasantness 
or unpleasantness. Normally a sweet taste is pleasant, 
a s^jur taste unpleasant; some colors and especially 
some combinations of colors are pleasing, others dis- 
pleasing. So, too, sounds, tastes, odors, and various 
kinds of touch sensations, warmth, and cold have their 
characteristic qualities of agreeableness or disagree- 
ableness. Again, our thoughts, imaginations, memo- 
ries, and other so-called higher processes are attended 
by experiences of pleasure and displeasure. 

Attitudes are subjective.* — These feeling attitudes 
are clearly to be set over against the cognitive aspects 
of consciousness as constituting a different class of men- 



172 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

tal processes. The difference is sometimes expressed 
by saying that attitudes are more subjective than the 
cognitive processes. In some sense the experience of 
color, of sound, of touch is an experience of the quali- 
ties of an object. But the agreeable or disagreeable 
feeling is in no sense inherent in the object; it repre- 
sents the reaction that the individual makes to the 
object — a reaction of acceptance or rejection. 

The subjective nature of feelings is further em- 
phasized by the way they differ in character under 
various circumstances, though accompanied by the 
same sensory content. Thus the more intense pain 
caused by pressing an aching tooth is frequently agree- 
able. The odor of tobacco, usually fragrant to the 
smoker, is strongly obnoxious if he is seasick. In some 
(moods nothing pleases, while in others the reverse is 
true. Memories of most painful experiences may in 
the course of time become pleasant in retrospect. 

Relation of learning to feeling. — The relation of 
feeling to the learning process has already been men- 
tioned. Fundamentally, feeling is an index, as has 
been said, of acceptance or rejection. What is pleas- 
urable is persisted in, what is unpleasant is refrained 
from. Some lines of activity are pleasurable for their 
own sakes, but if associated with stronger unpleasur- 
able experiences the effect is to make the person re- 
frain from them. On the other hand, associating the 
task that is inherently disagreeable with pleasurable 
experiences makes the repetition of the task so much 



ATTITUDES-ATTENTION, FEELING, AND EMOTION 173 

the easier. Herein lies the whole value of reward and 
punishment in education. 

Emotions are more complex attitudes. — Of still 
greater significance for the mental life is that group 
of complex attitudes known as emotions. These com- 
prise such experiences as fear, anger, love, hatred, sym- 
pathy, jealousy, joy, sadness, shame, and pride. These 
very intense experiences are closely related to the in- 
stincts that have been already described. James has 
shown this relation clearly in his definition of emo- 
tions: "An emotion is a tendency to feel, and an in- 
stinct is a tendency to act, characteristically, when in 
the presence of a certain object in the environment. 
The only distinction one may draw is that the reaction 
called emotional terminates in the subject's own body, 
whilst the reaction called instinctive is apt to go farther 
and enter into practical relations with the exciting 
object." 

Relation of emotion to its motor accompaniments. 
— Every emotion carries with it instinctive bodily 
responses, which we call in every-day speech expres- 
sions of the emotion. Thus in fear there is momen- 
tary slowing of the heart-beat, followed by very rapid 
heart action ; the breathing is affected ; the limbs trem- 
ble ; the face grows pale ; the person may run or on the 
contrary be unable to do so, and there is a contraction 
of the muscles of the stomach. Any one or more of 
these responses, except probably the last, may be ab- 
sent, or at least scarcely noticeable; but there is al- 



174 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

ways present the characteristic feeling of disturbance 
located at the pit of the stomach. 

Now, this characteristic feeling in the stomach con- 
stituting the core of the emotion is, like the other ef- 
fects mentioned, caused by the motor effects of the 
exciting situation. Like the changes in the heart-beat 
and breathing, it is caused by muscular contraction 
within the bodily organs. The motor discharges caus- 
ing these contractions do not result in outwardly ob- 
servable changes in behavior, such as running away, 
or trembling, or lack of control of the speech muscles, 
but like the latter they are reported to consciousness 
and together with them produce the wide-spread ef- 
fects that are felt as the emotion. The fear is the feel- 
ing of the wide-spread motor effects of the exciting sit- 
uation in various portions of the body. Thus the fear 
does not cause the expressions of fear, as popularly 
supposed. It would be much nearer the truth to say 
that the emotion is caused by the muscular responses 
in the body. This view has been forcibly though with 
exaggeration expressed by James in his frequently 
quoted passage : "We feel sorry because we cry, angry 
because we strike, afraid because we tremble." 

Educational significance of emotions. — The educa- 
tional significance of this doctrine is clear, and cannot 
be expressed better than in the following quotation 
from James: 

Every one knows how panic is increased by flight, 
and how the giving way to the symptoms of grief or 



ATTITUDES— ATTENTION, FEELING, AND EMOTION 175 

anger increases those passions themselves. Each fit 
of sobbing makes the sorrow more acute, and calls 
forth another fit stronger still, until at last repose only 
ensues with lassitude and with the apparent exhaus- 
tion of the machinery. In rage it is notorious how we 
"work ourselves up" to a climax by repeated outbreaks 
of expression. Refuse to express a passion and it dies. 
Count ten before venting your anger, and its occa- 
sion seems ridiculous. Whistling to keep up your cour- 
age is no mere figure of speech. On the other hand, 
sit still all day in a moping posture, sigh and reply to 
everything with a dismal voice, and your melancholy 
lingers. There is no more valuable precept in moral 
education than this, as all who have experience know : 
if we wish to conquer undesirable emotional tenden- 
cies in ourselves, we must assiduously, and in the first 
instance cold-bloodedly, go through the outward move- 
ments of those contrary dispositions which we prefer 
to cultivate. The reward of persistency will infallibly 
come in the fading out of the sullenness or depression 
and the advent of real cheerfulness and kindliness in 
their stead. Smooth the brow, brighten the eye, con- 
tract the dorsal rather than the ventral aspect of the 
frame, and speak in a major key, pass the general com- 
pliment, and your heart must be frigid indeed if it 
do not gradually thaw. 

The function of emotions. — One is naturally led, 
by the fact that emotions need to be curbed and modi- 
fied, to ask what is the function of the emotion? Are 
emotions ever serviceable or should they be repressed 
altogether? The answer to these questions occurs at 
once to everybody. We do not admire the person who 



176 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

is absolutely cold and indifferent to the life of feeling. 
It is generally agreed that such emotions as love and 
sympathy should be cultivated, while hatred and envy 
should be repressed. It is generally admitted that 
there are occasions for anger and pride, even though 
these occasions are rare. 

The truth seems to be that the emotions, together 
with the instincts, have survived as mental functions 
because of their racial utility. They are capacities 
that have arisen in response to the necessity for imme- 
diate and energetic response. The emotions represent 
a sudden check to the onward normal flow of events 
to which the organism must respond at once without 
deliberation. Under conditions of primitive life, when 
man was mainly engaged in coping with the forces of 
nature and with his fellow man in the most direct way, 
some of the emotions, like anger and fear, were much 
more useful than they are to-day, when all of our re- 
lationships to objects and persons are of a less direct 
kind. As society became more organized, on the other 
hand, those emotions that tend, like love and sym- 
pathy, to the preservation of social groups became 
relatively more important, and were generally recog- 
nized as worthy of cultivation. It is clear, however, 
that the emotional reaction under conditions of civ- 
ilized life finds its chief utility in the energy which it 
supplies for action, while its chief danger is in the im- 
mediacy of the action. Under the stress of emotion a 
man may accomplish prodigious feats of strength and 



ATTITUDES— ATTENTION, FEELING, AND EMOTION 177 

endurance, but he may also do prodigiously foolish 
things. Blind, non-deliberative action is not suited to 
conditions of modern society. The life of feeling must 
be subordinated to that of intellect. 

The child's emotional life. — The emotional life of 
the child needs the wisest and most sympathetic over- 
sight. Evidence accumulates that emotional strains 
are among the most frequent causes of disturbance in 
the mental life. The sensitive boy subjected to shame 
at the hands of a thoughtless teacher may have his 
school career wrecked, or at least he may accomplish 
little until put under the direction of a new teacher. 
Sheer repression of the instinctive emotional tenden- 
cies, which are deep-seated racial reactions, often leads 
to disastrous results. What is needed in such cases 
is that the situation be frankly faced and the pent-up 
emotional channels given an outlet in some direction 
that is useful rather than harmful. 

References 

Angell, J. R. Psychology. Chapters IV, XIII, 
XVIII, XIX. (Holt, 1908.) 

JuDD, C. H. Psychology. Chapters VI, VII, XV. 
(Ginn, 1917.) 

PiLLSBURY, W. B. Essentials of Psychology. Chap- 
ters V, XI, XII. (Macmillan, 1911.) 

Stout, G. F. Manual of Psychology. Chapters III, 
IV. (University Tutorial Press, 1915.) 



CHAPTER XI 

VOLUNTARY ACTION 

Involuntary action. — In the introductory chapter 
the fundamental principle was laid down that con- 
sciousness is a function of the organism that is used 
in adapting it to its environment. In each succeeding 
chapter the attempt has been made to show how the 
various kinds of conscious processes are accompanied 
by characteristic forms of action. It has been shown 
that we start out with a native equipment of automatic, 
reflex, and instinctive activities made in response to 
certain of the objects and situations that we perceive. 

These native activities are modified to a greater or 
less extent, and at the same time habitual ways of 
action gradually develop for other situations and ob- 
jects for which we have at first no definite modes 
of response. Instinctive and habitual forms of action, 
though quite different in their origin, are in some re- 
spects quite similar. Both classes of action are very 
immediate and direct responses to the stimulus that 
prompts them. Because of this fact these forms of be- 
havior are sometimes called involuntary. 

Involuntary action referred to the bodily self. — It 
has also been shown that in the case of reflex and auto- 

178 



VOLUNTARY ACTION 179 

matic actions consciousness plays little or no part. In 
the case of instinctive activities there is often present, 
as a part of the stimulus to action complex, bodily sen- 
sations that "urge" us on to the execution of the act. 
These sensations, being recognized as coming from 
bodily conditions, help to give the instincts their in- 
voluntary character, since they are recognized as be- 
longing to the bodily self rather than that higher self 
the conceptual development of which was traced in a 
preceding chapter. 

Involuntary action frequently accompanied by feel- 
ings and emotions. — Furthermore, instinctive actions 
are usually accompanied by those complex forms of 
consciousness that we call emotions, and the observable 
outward action is only a part of the motor reaction. 
The inner bodily responses constituting a part of the 
emotional expression are, as we have seen, very impor- 
tant parts of the total reaction. 

In contrast with the strongly emotional tone of most 
instinctive action stands the pale and neutral character 
of many perceptual habits. Simple feelings of satis- 
faction and dissatisfaction play their part in the de- 
velopment of these, and in some cases pleasure and 
displeasure are marked accompaniments of response 
to habitual situations. In many other cases the per- 
ceptual response, however, is so devoid of feeling tone 
that in this respect they seem to be much more nearly 
allied to the pure reflexes than to the instincts. 

Voluntary action. — With the advent of ideas the 



180 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

relationship of consciousness to action becomes much 
more complicated, and a type of action arises that, in 
contrast with the simpler forms of action, we call 
voluntary. If we followed our ordinary way of speak- 
ing of them, voluntary actions would be defined as 
actions that are willed. But to speak of an action 
as due to "will," or, as it is frequently put, "will pow- 
er," is highly objectionable from a psychological point 
of view. What we need to know is what "will" is and 
how willed acts differ from others that are not willed. 

Purposefulness of voluntary action. — One of the 
first answers that come to the latter question is that 
voluntary acts differ from involuntary in the forward- 
looking attitude of mind that is taken when they are 
made. Voluntary action is purposeful action; that is, 
it contemplates the end of the action before it is made. 
We have already learned that this forward-looking 
tendency is made possible by means of the capacity 
that man has of forming ideas. We have also seen that 
ideas, while they are related to past sensory experi- 
ence, are not forced upon us by environmental condi- 
tions at the moment of our experiencing them, but are 
in large measure our own constructs. Because of these 
characteristics, behavior in response to ideas is regarded 
as being much more truly an expression of our real 
selves than in the case of involuntary actions, which 
are in a sense forced upon us by environmental condi- 
tions. 

Ideas often inhibit one another and delay action. — 



VOLUNTARY ACTION 181 

There are still other reasons for this feeling of freedom 
that usually accompanies voluntary action. Ideas are 
seldom in consciousness singly, and the presence of two 
or more ideas at one and the same time, instead of lead- 
ing to action, may lead to the deferring of action, at 
least as far as outwardly observable action is concerned. 
Such is the case in those instances that we regard as 
the typical instances of "will," where deliberation and 
decision or choice are necessary. In such cases the 
natural outcome in action of one idea is offset or in- 
hibited by another. The interplay between ideas, 
therefore, has the useful function of blocking hasty 
action and of allowing consideration of the conse- 
quences of action. Every moment of ideational con- 
sciousness is likely to be a complex of ideas, each 
contending, so to speak, for the right of control, the 
result being a suspension of action until such time as 
one of the ideas gains the victory. 

Isolated ideas issue in immediate action. — A single 
idea, however, has no effect of postponing action. In- 
deed, it is of the very nature of the idea that action 
should follow it, similar to that which accompanied 
the sensory experiences from which the idea was de- 
rived. If our minds were so constructed that ideas 
popped into consciousness one after the other, each 
idea for the time being holding complete sway, each 
idea would manifest itself in action in a way almost as 
immediate as perceptual action. 

Suggestion illustrates ideo-motor action. — Condi- 



182 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

tions somewhat approaching this state of affairs some- 
times occur. Perhaps the most extreme cases are those 
occurring under conditions of hypnosis, already re- 
ferred to under the head of suggestion. The most strik- 
ing effect of the hypnotic condition is the increased 
attention of the subject to all ideas suggested by the 
hypnotizer and the inhibition of all other ideas. Ac- 
tion appropriate to the hypnotizer's ideas naturally 
and inevitably follows. But cases of ideo-motor action 
are by no means confined to abnormal conditions such 
as hypnosis. The well-known suggestibility of chil- 
dren and mobs, the phenomena of muscle-reading, 
ouija-boards, suppressed speech movements in silent 
reading, are all cases in point. 

Ideo-motor action often found under normal con- 
ditions. — Sometimes the idea is of such a nature that 
it includes as a part of the idea itself the deferring of 
action until a more or less definite time in the future, 
a phenomenon that is both familiar and normal, as 
well as closely similar to post-hypnotic suggestion, de- 
scribed in Chapter VII. A most interesting case of 
this sort is one in which we successfully set ourselves 
to awake at an unaccustomed early hour. In a simi- 
lar fashion we look ahead to engagements, the doing 
of errands, and similar routine activities, and when 
the time comes find ourselves performing them. Such 
evidence, together with much experimental evidence 
that lack of space precludes us from giving, warrants 
the view that all ideas, when not impeded by the pres- 



VOLUNTARY ACTION 



183 



ence of other ideas, work themselves out into action. 
Summary of relation of consciousness to action. — 
The following table will serve to summarize the facts 
of consciousness and action that may be regarded as the 
basic conditions on which voluntary action is founded : 



Stimulus 



Consciousness 



Action 



Internal condition of 
bodily organism.., 

External object or sit- 
uation 



External object or sit- 
uation + or — bodily 
conditions 



External object or sit- 
uation 



No immediate sensory 
stimulus but following 
perception or other 
ideas 



None 

None or vague per- 
ception 



Perception + or — 
emotion 

Perception + or — 
feelings of pleasure 
or displeasure 



Ideas + or — feeling 
of pleasure or dis- 
pleasure or emotion 



Automatic 
Reflex 

Instinctive 

Perceptual habits 

Ideo-motor habits 



Voluntary decision dependent on attention. — There 
is no abrupt line of demarcation between voluntary 
and involuntary action. Ideo-motor action partakes 
of the nature of both. In such action there is at least 
some degree of purposefulness, some looking forward 
to the end of the action ; but, on the other hand, mere 
presence of the idea seems to be sufl&cient to carry us 
on to the execution of the action. Voluntary action 
of the complete sort, however, arises when two or more 
of the tendencies to action enumerated in our table are 



184 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

present, each striving for expression. Under these cir- 
cumstances a dramatic try-out of the consequences of 
action takes place in consciousness before action oc- 
curs. When decision or choice is reached, one of the 
conflicting tendencies has succeeded in crowding out 
the others, and at that moment voluntary action be- 
comes ideo-motor. The preferred idea takes its nat- 
ural course. Voluntary choice is thus fundamentally 
a phenomenon of attention. 

James has graphically described what takes place 
in the following illustration, which makes a strong 
appeal to most readers: 

We know what it is to get out of bed on a freezing 
morning in a room without a fire, and how the very 
vital principle within us protests against the ordeal. 
Probably most persons have lain on certain mornings 
for an hour at a time, unable to brace themselves for 
the resolve. We think how late we shall be, how the 
duties of the day will suffer; we say, 'T must get up, 
this is ignominious," etc.; but still the warm couch 
feels too delicious, the cold outside too cruel, and reso- 
lution faints away and postpones itself again and again 
just as it seemed on the verge of bursting the resist- 
ance and passing over into the decisive act. 

Now, how do we ever get up under such circum- 
stances? If I may generalize from my own experi- 
ence, we more often than not get up without any 
struggle or decision at all. We suddenly find out that 
we have got up. A fortunate lapse of consciousness 
occurs; we forget both the warmth and the cold; we 
fall into some revery connected with the day's life, in 



VOLUNTARY ACTION 185 

the course of which the idea flashes across us, "Hello ! 
I must be here no longer" — an idea which at that 
lucky instant awakens no contradictory or paralyz- 
ing suggestions, and consequently produces immedi- 
ately its appropriate motor effects. It was our acute 
consciousness of both the warmth and the cold during 
the period of struggle which paralyzed our activity then 
and kept our idea of rising in the condition of wish 
and not of will. The moment these inhibitory ideas 
ceased, the original idea exerted its effects. 

It is, of course, a mere figure of speech to say, as we 
did in a former paragraph, that one idea contends with 
another and that one gains a victory over another. 
In reality, the ideas are merely parts of a total complex 
inner condition, the material outcome of which is the 
balancing of muscular action until the moment arrives 
when attention is held by one phase of this total com- 
plex, the balance is upset, and action results. Volun- 
tary action, in the sense of choice and decision, is thus 
seen to be a phenomenon of attention. 

Voluntary action dependent upon involuntary. — 
This kind of action is, then, the goal of mental de- 
velopment; but it is made possible only by the original 
stock of instinctive activities and the perceptual habits 
that have been acquired. At the stage where action is 
under the guidance of ideas a certain self-sufficiency 
is attained which makes possible what we call self- 
control; but, just as the ideas themselves have their 
origin in earlier sensory experiences, voluntary action 



186 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

arises out of original instinctive and impulsive tenden- 
cies. One cannot perform an entirely new act by sheer 
force of "will." 

Let any one who has not already learned to do so 
try to move the ears. The muscles to perform this 
action are there, but they will not respond. Only a 
great deal of effort, resulting in wide-spread movement 
in the muscles of the face and scalp, will bring even 
approximate success. But with repeated effort there 
arises an idea of the way "it feels" to move the ears, 
and after much practice the movement of the ears can 
be made without the accompanying scalp and face 
movements. Voluntary control takes place after a 
series of efforts which may be conveniently de- 
scribed as "trial and error learning." The many ac- 
tivities that follow what we call "willing" are made 
possible only because of our native equipment of ac- 
tivities and the subsequent learning process. "Will" 
turns out to be not some mysterious power that comes 
suddenly into existence, making the action possible, 
but merely a name for a present capacity that has its 
roots in the past. 

Deliberation is a mental review of the effects of 
action. — Even at the perceptual level of activity, ten- 
dencies to opposed activities at one and the same time 
may manifest themselves. Titchener illustrates such 
tendencies by citing the case of the young child con- 
fronted by a strange dog. Under such circumstances 
"the impulse towards . . . and the impulse away 



VOLUNTARY ACTION 187 

from are realized in quick succession. The child goes 
up to the dog, runs back to its father, approaches the 
dog again, and so on." Adults often catch themselves 
starting to perform one of two incompatible actions 
and then suddenly abandoning it to perform the other. 
But deliberation is very different from the outcomes 
of two conflicting perceptual tendencies like those just 
described. In deliberation the first most notable fact 
is the checking of outward action and the substitution 
in its place of a series of associated ideas, the conse- 
quences of which are mentally reviewed and the worth 
of which is tested in the light of the whole personality. 
The effect is a substitute for actual trial of the motor 
consequences of each without the necessity of really 
performing the action. In so far as the matters in- 
volved are of a purely intellectual sort, we have here 
in deliberative action exactly the conditions already 
described under the head of "Thinking." 

Moral choice. — In other cases, however, deliberation 
involves not merely the consideration of which is the 
more logically correct of two or more possible decisions, 
but which is the better line of conduct. The most 
striking examples of this type of deliberation are those 
cases that involve moral choice. Here we find the most 
complex situations of all, with the various conflicting 
tendencies of our nature each clamoring for expression. 

Necessity for choice due to conflict of desires. — 
We commonly speak of these experiences that call for 
moral choice as being due to the conflict of desires. It 



188 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

will pay us, therefore, to examine what is meant by 
desire. 

When we think of an action as taking place and re- 
sulting in pleasure and satisfaction to ourselves, we 
are said to desire. Sometimes the desire is said to be 
for objects, but in this case the meaning is obviously 
that the desired object should be used. In these cases, 
too, the satisfaction is contemplated as being attached 
to the outcome of some action with respect to the de- 
sired object. Desires are first of all manifested in con- 
nection with instinctive and habitual forms of response 
that are associated with immediate satisfactions. But 
with the growth of experience more and more value is 
placed on ideal forms of satisfaction, which can be ob- 
tained only by the denial of the immediate satisfaction. 

Formation of ideals. — With the growing conception 
of self a sort of hierarchy of desires is arranged, repre- 
senting by its arrangement the value attached to each 
as expressive of the true nature of the self. In this way 
are developed those more or less constant rules of con- 
duct called ideals, which usually represent the aims 
approved by the social environment in which we live. 

The "self" in moral choice. — The following quota- 
tion from Stout describes the way in which the con- 
ception of self influences moments of decision : 

Voluntary action does not follow either of the con- 
flicting tendencies, as such; it follows our preference 
of the one to the other. . . . The alternative is not 



VOLUNTARY ACTION 189 

"this" or "that," but "shaU / do this?" or "shaU / 
do that?" Each line of action, with its results, is con- 
sidered not in isolation but as part of the ideally con- 
structed whole for which the word "I" stands. The 
impulse of the present moment belongs to the Self 
of the present moment; but this is only a transient 
phase of the total Self. If the impulse is realized the 
completed action will take its place as a component 
part of the life-history of the individual. He may live 
to regret it. In his present mood, with bottle and glass 
before him, he may desire to get drunk; but sobriety 
may have been the habit and principle of a lifetime. 
If he yields to temptation, the remembrance of the 
act will stand out in painful conflict with his normal 
tendencies. He will be unable to think of it without a 
pang. 

This incompatibility between the normal Self and 
the present impulse, if vividly enough realized at the 
moment of temptation, will restrain him from drink- 
ing. If it is not sufl5cient, further developments of 
the conception of Self may be more eflScacious. He 
may think of hunself as churchwarden or elder; he 
may think of the ideal aspirations of his better mo- 
ments; he may call to mind the thought of himself as 
reflected in other minds, — the dead friend who expected 
so much from him, and who would be so shocked at his 
lapse, — the talk of the general public conceived as 
pitying, contemptuous, or malicious. He may even 
consider how he would like to look back to such an 
episode on his death-bed. 

Obviously, this detailed development of what is in- 
cluded in the man's conception of himself as a whole 
might go on interminably. As a matter of fact, it is 
possible that it would not be needed at all. He might 



190 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

simply say, "What! / do such a thing? How could 
the thought ever have occurred to mef In this case 
the mere concept of the Self in its vague totality with- 
out detailed development would be sufficient to pro- 
duce a decision. The thought of getting drunk at- 
tracts the man; but the thought of his getting drunk 
repels, so as to give rise to instant rejection of the 
suggested course of action. 

Inhibitions to voluntary action. — Since voluntary 
action is expressive of developed personality, it follows 
that the child's capacity in this respect is at first weak, 
and that ideals, persistence, and character are the re- 
sults of gradual development. Ordinary observation 
shows the truth of this statement, which may be sup- 
ported by evidence of detailed observation. 

One line of such evidence is concerned with the so- 
called inhibitions of childhood. These curious block- 
ings of voluntary endeavor, which are by no means 
entirely confined to childhood, are frequently asso- 
ciated with emotional strains. Meumann gives an ex- 
ample, directly concerned with the school life of a child, 
which is suflaciently typical of what occurs in some 
instances to make it of considerable educational impor- 
tance. A child entered a new school. His former 
teacher, having an antipathy for the thirteen-year-old 
boy, introduced him to the new teacher, at the same 
time taking occasion to denounce his character. From 
that moment on the boy became depressed in spirits, 



VOLUNTARY ACTION 191 

his school work deteriorated, and at the end of the year 
he was not promoted. His parents decided to send 
him to a third school, where he was met by the teacher 
with kindness and confidence, whereupon he became 
one of the best pupils of the school. 

Importance of the confidence born of success. — 
Every teacher of experience knows of similar cases, 
where pupils fail to do the work they are capable of 
in one or more branches of study because of early 
failure or a wrong start. The maxim "Nothing suc- 
ceeds like success" is nowhere more apt than in the 
school work of the child. This is especially true for 
some pupils in the mathematical branches, where the 
supposed necessity for each child to cover a certain 
amount of ground soon takes these pupils beyond their 
depth, with resultant discouragement and failure. The 
teacher's influence on the pupil's intellectual advance- 
ment cannot meet with success unless it is accompanied 
by that mutual confidence between pupil and teacher 
and the spirit of helpfulness that makes for encourage- 
ment. 

Suggestibility of children. — Reference has already 
been made to the fact that children are more suggesti- 
ble than adults — a natural consequence of their lack 
of experience and of ideational control. The child's 
actions are determined by the situations in which he 
finds himself, and especially by the influence of older 
persons. A question, a gesture or a glance is frequently 
all that is necessary to bring about a certain response. 



192 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

Teachers know how easy it is to evoke a wrong answer 
from an entire class by means of a suggestive question. 
The increased suggestibiHty due to large numbers 
meeting together is especially characteristic of school 
conditions. In this way arise school traditions and 
that vague but highly important feature of every school 
which we refer to as the "spirit of the school." 

Importance of training character. — In view of this 
susceptibility of the child, the influence of the teacher 
and the parent may become almost immeasurable, and 
at the same time the task of training character becomes 
one that involves the gravest difficulties and calls for 
the highest wisdom and skill. As Thorndike has point- 
ed out: "Morality is more susceptible than intellect to 
environmental influences. Moral traits are more 
often matters of the direction of capacities and the 
creation of desires and aversions. Over them their edu- 
cation has greater sway, though school education, be- 
cause of the pecuUar narrowness of the life of the 
school-room, has so far done little for any save the 
intellectual virtues." 

The great difficulty in securing healthy development 
of character comes from the fact that the possibility 
of greatly influencing the child's behavior comes from 
a weakness of the child's character. The child must 
be taught to think for himself and develop independent 
judgment. This necessity is as great in the moral as 
in the intellectual sphere. How to develop this ini- 



VOLUNTARY ACTION 193 

tiative, and at the same time not lose the opportunity 
of molding him in the right way during the plastic 
period, calls for the highest wisdom at our disposal. 

Training the will dependent on habit. — Training 
the will means, fundamentally, developing habits of 
action that conform to the best ideals of society. As 
we have seen, the "will" is powerless unless it has at its 
disposal either instinctive or habitual modes of action 
with which it may work. It is true that under the 
stress of emotional appeal, as in the case of religious 
revivals, revolutionary changes may be made in a per- 
son's desires. But, as religious leaders well know, the 
efifect of such conversions is temporary unless steps 
are at once taken to form a new group of habits con- 
forming to the new ideas. This is the real reason 
why so few ideals are ever realized. It is compara- 
tively easy for the school to create ideals through the 
influence of biography, literature, history, or indeed 
any of the subjects of the curriculum. The difficulty 
comes from the necessity of joining these to action, 
and this can be accomplished only through the slow and 
often painful task of habit formation. 

References 

Angell, J. R. Psychology. Chapters XX — XXII. 

(Holt, 1908.) 
JuDD^C.H. Psychology. Chapter XV. (Ginn, 1917.) 



194 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

PiLLSBURY, W. B. Essentials of Psychology. Chapter 

XIII. (Macmillan, 1911.) 
Stout, G. F. Manual of Psychology. Chapter X. 

(University Tutorial Press, 1915.) 



CHAPTER XII 
LEARNING 

Learning of various kinds. — The study we have 
made up to this point cannot fail to have shown that 
what we call "learning" in every-day life consists of 
many different psychological processes variously com- 
bined. It is true that all learning, when viewed from 
the standpoint of what goes on in the nervous system, 
is simply a process of forming connections, that is, of 
the organization of sensori-motor tracts; but, viewed 
from the standpoint of the accompanying mental 
processes, there are many kinds of learning. 

Perceptual learning. — One of the simplest kinds of 
learning, psychologically considered, is that which takes 
place in perceptual development. This is that funda- 
mental process of learning by means of which we 
come to know the world of objects with which we 
are surrounded. From time to time new objects are 
met with in our experience, but most of these objects 
are learned in some sense early in life, and it is only 
as they become better observed and their characteris- 
tics better analyzed that it can be said that any per- 
ceptual learning takes place in adult life. In these 
cases the learning usually takes place so gradually and 

195 



196 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



SO unconsciously that it is seldom possible to describe 
the process in detail. 

Perceptual learning in the case of an illusion. — 
Judd's investigation of the effects of practice on the 
perception of the MUller-Lyer illusion affords a useful 
illustration of this point. Here we have a case of per- 
ceptual learning that takes place under experimental 



54 
B3 
52 
51 

50 
49 
48 
47 
46 
45 
44 



K 



^ 



J 




K/ 



Fig. 24. Curve showing effect of practice with the Mviller-Lyer 
illusion. (After Judd.) 

conditions and in which many of the factors of the 
process have been analyzed and described. (See page 
100.) Fig. 24 shows the effects of practice on the per- 
ception of this illusion under the conditions already 
described in an earlier chapter. In the experiment, the 
length of the standard line, that is, of the part of the 
figure that remained constant, was 54 centimeters long. 
At the beginning of the experiment the subject whose 
"curve of learning" is given perceived the two hori- 



LEARNING 197 

zontal lines of the figures as equal, when the overesti- 
mated line was only between 44 and 45 centimeters in 
length. At the end of the 980 trials, however, the two 
lines appeared equal when they were actually equal or 
approximately so. It will be noticed that the improve- 
ment that takes place is not uniform, but varies from 
period to period, and toward the latter part of the 
series of trials is very rapid. 

Some description can be given of the way in which 
the learning process shown by the curve takes place. 
At first the subject perceives the figure as a whole in 
which the various lines are combined in such a way 
as to give rise to the illusory experience. Then begins 
a process of analysis in which the horizontal lines are 
selected for especial observation, the oblique lines 
being relatively neglected. Finally a stage is reached 
in which all of the lines are again combined or synthe- 
sized, and the whole figure takes on a new interpreta- 
tion or meaning. It will be seen that fundamentally 
these processes of analysis and synthesis are processes 
of attention. 

Learning through observation. — Processes of learn- 
ing similar to this must be going on continually in the 
early life of the child and to some degree in that 
of the adult. Probably the child's early sensory ex- 
periences are presented to him in a more or less con- 
fused jumble, and he gradually achieves his world of 
objects through such processes of perceptual develop- 
ment, breaking this vague mass of experience into more 



198 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

clearly observed parts and putting them together again 
in such a way as to give them meanings more and 
more in agreement with the demands of experience. 
Even in adult life the process continues. Objects are 
analyzed into their elements, they are observed from 
new points of view and are seen in new lights, when- 
ever they are put to uses different from the ordinary, 
as, for example, when it is necessary to draw them. This 
is especially true in the case of scientific observation 
of objects, such as when new and hitherto unsuspected 
features are revealed with the aid of the microscope. 

Motor processes in perceptual learning. — But this 
account of perceptual learning tells only one side of 
the story. Side by side with these sensory processes 
of learning, new modes of response are continually 
coming into play. In other words, habits are being 
formed. Even in the case of the illusion mentioned 
above, new habits of eye movement are developed, as 
has already been shown. The motor and sensory 
learning are in reality the two sides of the same 
process; they are separated only for purposes of de- 
scription. In some cases we are able to observe the 
sensory processes more clearly, and in others the motor 
processes. 

Trial-and-error learning. — The development of new 
ways of acting in connection with perceptual experi- 
ences is usually referred to as the "trial-and-error" 
method of learning, because of the relatively uncon- 
scious way in which it goes forward and because the 



LEARNING 199 

improvement takes place in an apparently hit-or-miss 
fashion. The trial-and-error method of learning is well 
illustrated in much of the behavior of the lower ani- 
mals. If a cat, for example, is placed in a box with 
a door in its side fastened by a simple latch, and food 
is placed on the outside of the box, the cat will rush 
about, scratch and bite at the sides of the box. Its 
reactions are of a random sort, including most of its 
stock of instinctive and habitual actions. In the 
course of a comparatively long time the animal will 
succeed, apparently by accident, in making the move- 
ment necessary to open the door and escape. If re- 
placed, the cat goes through virtually the same per- 
formance; but if placed again and again in the box, 
the time required for it to escape is gradually reduced, 
and finally it learns to make the appropriate movement 
at once without any preliminary useless movements. 
This process, in which the useless movements become 
gradually eliminated and the successful movements 
preserved, is typical of the way in which much of man's 
learning to make responses to new situations takes 
place. In the case of man, however, this type of learn- 
ing is usually complicated to some degree with other 
kinds of learning, which will be described later. 

Human learning complex. — Random movements, 
many of which are useless for the purpose, the grad- 
ual disappearance of the useless movements, and the 
"stamping in" of the successful reactions are typical of 
such human learning as riding a bicycle, playing golf, 



200 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



or writing. An easily performed experiment that will 
illustrate this type of learning is that of mirror-draw- 
ing. Place a drawing, such as that of a six-pointed 
star, in front of a mirror, and attempt to trace the 
lines of the star while looking at the hand and draw- 
ing as they appear in the mirror. A screen should be 




Fig. 25. Curves of learning in mirror drawing. (After Starch.) 



used to shield the hand and drawing from direct view. 
The person making the drawing should return to the 
line he is attempting to trace as soon as the pencil is 
found to leave it. Here we have a situation that is so 
novel as to require the learning of a new habit to meet 
it. No mere effort of will can bring about the success- 
ful action. It must be learned by a gradual process 



LEARNING 201 

in which all of the features of trial-and-error learning 
already mentioned are present. Fig. 25 shows the re- 
sults of training as measured both in time and errors 
made during a long period of practice. The star in the 
corner of the figure gives an illustration of the inco- 
ordinated movements necessary at an early stage of 
practice. 

Very little of man's learning can be described as 
being based on a method of pure trial and error, in 
which the progress takes place, as it were, accidentally 
or at least without conscious direction. Thus in learn- 
ing to play golf few persons, even when beginning to 
play the game, simply swing at the ball with the club 
in a hit-or-miss fashion, keeping it up until the efforts 
are crowned with success. The usual procedure is 
rather to begin under instruction from an expert or 
from one who at least knows something of the way in 
which the strokes should be made. Under these condi- 
tions the learning is more than a mere series of total 
responses to a gross situation. The situation is an- 
alyzed into component elements and corresponding 
movements. Thus one is instructed to keep one's eye 
on the ball until after it has left the club, to place 
the feet and body in a certain position with reference 
to the ball and its line of flight, to raise and lower the 
club in a particular manner, etc. Each one of these 
actions must be attended to more or less separately 
and in a certain order, and yet be combined into a co- 
ordinated series of acts. Even under these circum- 



202 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

stances, however, the learning of the separate responses 
and the fitting of them together will require much of 
the purely trial-and-error method of learning. 

Ideational learning. — In learning of this kind the 
analysis is ideational. The ideas in the instructions 
are worked out in advance of the actual performance 
of the movements. The selected elements, with their 
responses, are reviewed mentally, with the result that 
a short cut is made in the learning. Often, when the 
constituent elements of the situation and the motor 
response are already well known, the imparting of 
ideas through instruction may save the learner from 
all necessity of trial and error and the performance 
may be correct the first time it is tried. Thus, to 
take a simple example, one may learn from a police- 
man, when visiting a strange place, the way to the 
post-ofl5ce and direct his steps successfully on the basis 
of the ideas acquired. 

Illustration of complex human learning. — The 
learning of complex activities involving trial-and- 
error, analysis, and ideational guidance has been 
made the subject of considerable psychological investi- 
gation. One of the most enlightening of these studies 
is that made by Bryan and Harter on learning teleg- 
raphy. Learning telegraphy is like learning a new lan- 
guage and translating it into the native tongue as far 
as the receiving of messages is concerned. In the 
sending of messages the motor processes of hand and 
arm in pressing the key are analogous to the oral ex- 



LEARNING 203 

pression of ordinary language, or still more nearly an- 
alogous to handwriting movements, made in response 
to dictation. Let us consider the sending side of the 
learning of telegraphy first. Bryan and Harter found 
that the learning takes place by the acquirement of 
habits, some simple and others complex, or, as they 
put it, lower and higher orders of habits. The begin- 
ner starts by learning the alphabet of dots and dashes, 
slowly spelling out each word as he presses the key 
in the appropriate way. The next stage is reached 
when he is able to associate the movements necessary 
to send entire words in a unitary series, just as we do 
in speaking. The letters and their corresponding 
movements are no longer attended to separately, but 
the dots and dashes as heard and the movements nec- 
essary to make them are run together into a single 
unit. Such habits are habits of a higher order than 
those that the beginner first learned. Progress con- 
tinues until words, especially those that frequently 
occur together, are combined into still larger units, 
constituting a third and still higher order of habits. 
The upper curve of Fig. 26 shows the gradual improve- 
ment in sending, relatively rapid at first and slow to- 
wards the end, and fluctuating from period to period. 
Learning to send telegraphic messages is at first 
easier than learning to receive, though in the long run 
the capacity for receiving outstrips that for sending. 
In sending, the operator looks ahead as we do in read- 
ing, and at the same time determines the rate at his 



204 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



own convenience. In receiving, however, looking ahead 
has to depend entirely on the imagination, and it is 
found that mistakes are made in this way. Accord- 
ingly the expert telegrapher, in receiving, not only does 
not look forward, but actually lets the message get 
ahead of his receiving. When writing or typewriting 





4 


Weeks of Practice 
8 13 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 


I 


1 I i i 1 1 


1 t 


140 
130 


- 


Ser^^Il^— '— ■^ 


^ 


120 
sllO 


- 


^^ 


^^^ 


|ioo 
too 

s, 80 
fe 70 


: 


/^Slowest Main Line Hate / 


-^ 


- 


f ^— 




■S 60 
^ 50 


- / 






40 


- / 




30 


- / 


/"'^ 




20 


-//" 






10 


-// 







Fig. 26. Curves of learning to send and receive telegraphic mes- 
sages. (After Bryan and Barter.) 

the message, he waits until he is from six to ten words 
behind the instrument before beginning to transcribe 
the message. The units of perception are so large 
that he is able to do this, and the liability to make 
mistakes is lessened. The lower curve of Fig. 26 shows 
the curve of learning for receiving telegraphic mes- 
sages. 

Plateaus in the learning curve. — This curve is 
especially interesting because of certain features com- 



LEARNING 205 

mon to many learning curves in other investigations 
but not present in the learning curve for sending mes- 
sages. It will be seen that, besides the general fea- 
tures noted above in connection with the curve of 
sending, there is a point near the middle of the curve 
where progress ceases for some time, after which a 
sudden improvement takes places. Such parts of learn- 
ing curves, indicating no gain and suddenly followed by 
rapid improvement, have been designated "plateaus." 
Such periods of depression in the various forms of 
school-room learning can be testified to in the experi- 
ence of most pupils and teachers. In the learning of 
any subject progress is relatively rapid at first, but 
there frequently comes a time of stagnation with most 
discouraging results for all concerned. With persistent 
application this period passes over to one of rapid 
progress comparable to that with which the learning 
began. The question of interest is, whether such pe- 
riods of lack of progress are necessary and to what they 
are due. The first obvious suggestion in answer to 
the latter question is that the retarded progress is due 
to loss of interest. But, while this may in some cases 
be a factor, the plateau frequently occurs without any 
such feeling on the part of the learner, and without 
any feeling of renewed interest at the point at which 
the sudden gain makes its appearance. Most investi- 
gators agree that the latter point is reached when new 
methods begin to be used. The plateau represents a 
point where the limit of progress has been made until 



206 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



some new mode of attack upon, the situation has been 
devised or hit upon. 

Explanation of the plateau. — In the special case 
before us Bryan and Harter have explained the plateau 
period in a manner that can be clearly understood by 
a reference to Fig. 27. This figure gives separate curves 




P^G. 27. Separate curves of learning for letters, words, and con- 
iected discourse in receiving telegraphic messages. The uppermost 
curve is the same as the lower curve in Fig. 26. (After Bryan and 
Harter.) 



for the progress in each of the three orders of habits 
referred to above. It will be seen that the learning 
for words and letters reached the limit of improvement 
at about the time that the learning for connected dis- 
course was recovering from the plateau period. The 
explanation seems to be, therefore, that the plateau 
represents a period of only apparent lack of progress — 



LEARNING 207 

a period in which habits of the lower order are being 
perfected — after which these habits are made available 
for the rapid progress in the higher order of habits. 
The plateau period turns out to be a necessary period 
of preparation for a fresh start according to a new 
method through the incorporation of the lower orders 
of habit into that of the higher. 

Learning through association. — A very great deal 
if not most of the learning of the school-room consists 
in memory of the associative type. This type of learn- 
ing was among the first of psychological processes to 
be investigated by experimental methods, and much 
light has been thrown on the subject by the results 
of this experimental work. 

The earliest work in this field was done by Ebbing- 
haus, a German psychologist, who used nonsense syl- 
lables as materials for learning. These nonsense syl- 
lables were made up of vowels and consonants in such 
a way as to make pronounceable words, but so as to 
have no meanings (for example, zef, tos, pern). The 
advantage of the use of such words is that the learning 
of one series of a certain number of nonsense syllables 
under certain conditions may be directly compared 
with the learning of a second series of the same length 
under different conditions. Since the words are de- 
void of meaning, the learning process is reduced to 
the purely mechanical association of each word with 
the others of the series. 

Effects of repetition. — One of the problems that 



208 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

Ebbinghaus set himself was to discover the effects of 
different numbers of repetitions on the amount re- 
membered. He learned one series of sixteen syllables 
so that it could be said once without mistakes. A sec- 
ond series was learned in the same way and then re- 
peated eight additional times. Still other series of the 
same length were repeated sixteen, twenty-four, up to 
sixty-four times after they were just learned. He 
found in this way that each repetition after the first 
learning had practically the same effect, resulting in 
a saving in the time for relearning twenty-four hours 
afterward of about twelve seconds per repetition. The 
following table gives the results in detail: 





Time for 




Time Saved 


Repetitions 


Relearning 


Time Saved 


per Syllable 





1270 seconds 






8 


1167 


(( 


103 seconds 


12.9 seconds 


16 


1078 


« 


192 " 


12.0 " 


24 


975 


u 


295 " 


12.3 " 


32 


863 


u 


407 " 


12.7 " 


42 


697 


f( 


573 " 


13.6 " 


53 


585 


<( 


685 " 


12.9 " 


64 


454 


« 


816 " 


12.8 " 



By a similar method it was found that the rate of 
forgetting is very rapid at first, then decreases, and 
finally a small amount remains that is remembered 
almost indefinitely. 

Learning beyond the threshold. — As stated in the 
last paragraph, Ebbinghaus regarded a series of non- 
sense syllables as having been learned when it could 
be repeated once without mistakes. We may call the 



LEARNING 209 

point in the learning process where this can be done 
the threshold. While the method used by Ebbinghaus 
is well adapted to his experimental purposes, it is easy 
to see that learning merely to the threshold does not 
meet the requirements of most school purposes. 
Ebbinghaus found that a very large part of what he 
had learned in this way was forgotten one hour after- 
ward. Hence the necessity that arises of carrying the 
learning beyond the threshold so as to forestall the 
effects of forgetting. The youthful mind is apt to 
assume that permanent results have been attained long 
before there is suflBcient warrant for thinking so. How 
much repetition is necessary in any particular instance 
is, of course, difficult to determine. It will differ with 
the individual learner, the subject of study, and the 
degree of permanence necessary. Every student, how- 
ever, should know the importance of this principle and 
seek to learn from his own experience how to put it 
into effect. 

The will to remember. — It is obvious that the 
learning process is made easier by concentratmg the 
attention on the material to be learned. One rule, 
therefore, for easy and efficient learning is that the 
learner should be interested in what he is doing. It is 
too much to expect that the learner should always be 
interested in the material to be learned for its own 
sake. No one could be interested, for example, in the 
learning of nonsense syllables simply for their own 
sake. Where interest is not present unmediately, it 



210 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

becomes necessary to introduce motives that lie out- 
side the material itself — the desire to excel, to please 
others, or other factors that we have found to be char- 
acteristic of voluntary attention. Striking evidence of 
the effect of lack of concentration in learning may 
sometimes be obtained from laboratory work in 
memory. A number of experimenters have reported, 
for example, that they have repeated a series of non- 
sense syllables to a learner a sufficient number of times 
for the latter to memorize them, and then the same 
series again to a second learner, and still a third, with- 
out being able to remember the series themselves. 
In such instances it is probable that the failure to 
remember material that has been so frequently re- 
peated by the experimenter is in part due to another 
important factor in the learning process, which may 
be easily overlooked by the student in actual practice. 
This factor may be expressed by the phrase "the in- 
tention to remember." It is found that the learner 
of a series of nonsense syllables remembers it much 
better if he has more or less definitely before his mind 
the subsequent testing that is to take place. If the 
learner thinks the material is to be learned for tem- 
porary purposes and is afterward tested, it is found 
to be less well remembered later than when he learns 
with the expectation of being tested some time after- 
ward, even though the amount of time devoted to the 
learning is the same in both cases and the results are 
similar for the first learning. Hence the learner should 



LEARNING 211 

look ahead to the occasion when the material being 
learned is to be used. Even when the occasion for use 
is not a definite one, the anticipation of possible occa- 
sions for its use is helpful in preventing that forgetting 
which is the ordinary outcome of those experiences 
that seem to have no significance. 

Using what is learned. — The question of actual use 
of what is learned is highly important in connection 
with learning. We know and remember best what we 
use most. The recitation, the test, the examination 
find much of their justification because they furnish 
not only reviews but opportunities for the pupil to 
use what has been learned. Where opportunities for 
use do not occur naturally, they should be sought for 
and created. The person who has a great fund of 
anecdotes to relate is the one who is always buttonhol- p 
ing his friends and telling his latest story. 

Distribution of learning periods. — Ebbinghaus 
learned series of nonsense syllables by two different 
methods, his purpose being to determine whether it 
is better to learn the material up to the time it can 
just be recited and then continue to repeat it for a 
considerable period, or to distribute the same amount 
of time over a number of learning periods with in- 
tervals in between. A series of syllables was learned 
so that it could be repeated correctly after 17 repeti- 
tions, after which 51 more repetitions were made in 
order to fix it in memory. As a result of these 68 
repetitions enough was remembered twenty-four hours 



212 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

later so that the series was relearned with 7 repetitions. 
A second series of the same length was repeated 18, 
13, and 7 times on each of three successive days. As 
a result of this total number of 38 repetitions, only 
5 repetitions were necessary to relearn the series twen- 
ty-four hours later. Hence the principle arises, which 
has been confirmed by a number of other investiga- 
tions both with nonsense and significant material, that 
it is better to distribute a given amount of learning 
time over a number of periods than to do all of the 
learning at one time. This result is not entirely due 
to the effects of fatigue in the longer period, for it has 
been shown to hold under conditions where fatigue 
could not enter as a factor. Apparently what has been 
learned continues to become fixed even after the con- 
* scious attention to the learning has ceased — a phe- 
nomenon very much like that which appears in con- 
nection with the plateau period in the learning curve, 
which has already been described. The student who 
does all his learning at one sitting fails to take advan- 
tage of this unconscious assimilation. 

Experimental evidence needed of best periods of 
distribution. — The principle just discussed has an im- 
portant bearing upon the making of school programs — 
the number of recitations per week for each subject 
and the length of time over which the study of any one 
subject should be extended. There is some reason to 
believe that some of the subjects of the high school, 
which are commonly pursued for each day in the week 



LEARNING 213 

for a year and then dropped, might be taught more 
advantageously if given on alternate days for a period 
of two years. Unfortunately, there is no experimental 
evidence to confirm or deny this view. 

Understanding what is learned. — Ebbinghaus 
found that he could learn connected words that had 
significance eight or nine times as fast as nonsense ma- 
terial. The element of meaning is, therefore, the most 
important single factor in the learning process. To un- 
derstand the material to be learned becomes the most 
important rule for learning, for two reasons: (1) be- 
cause only when it is understood can it efficiently be 
used; and (2) because the better understood it is, the 
more economically it can be learned. 

Any plan of procedure, therefore, that leads to an 
attitude of active inquiry as to the bearings and sig- 
nificance of what is being learned is found to be fruit- 
ful in results. Some lessons, for example, can be 
learned more easily if they are first read through 
somewhat hastily for the sake of getting one's general 
bearings. In the later more thorough study each de- 
tail is seen in its proper setting and is more easily 
understood and remembered. 

Again, most lessons are in reality composed of series 
of problems with their solutions. They present situa- 
tions that demand the kind of treatment described 
in the chapter on "Thinking." Many students fail 
to realize this aspect of the study problem in connec- 
tion with subjects other than mathematics. If the 



214 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

student will ask himself what problem the author of 
the text is raising as he proceeds in his work, and will 
think out the solution to the problem along with the 
author, the task of remembering will become relatively 
easy. Better still, if he can raise other problems sug- 
gested by those of the book, and can solve them from 
his own experience or by going to other sources of 
information, study will become both easy and profit- 
able. 

Learning by wholes and parts. — Where material is 
to be learned verbatim it is possible to take either one 
of two methods. In the first place, it may be learned 
by repeating over and over parts of the material until 
each part is thoroughly learned, and then proceeding 
to learn the next part in a similar manner. In learn- 
ing poetry, for example, the part chosen may be a sin- 
gle line. The second method is that in which the 
learner proceeds by reading over the entire selection 
and then repeating in the same way until it is learned. 
Pupils naturally follow one or the other of these two 
methods, usually the former, when left to themselves. 

Careful experiments have shown, however, that the 
method of learning by parts is less economical than 
that of learning by wholes. Various reasons may be 
offered for the superiority of the latter method. In the 
first place, the material that is read over in its entirety 
is better understood than when attacked in parts, thus 
making the learning less mechanical and giving the 
benefits that we have seen are to be derived from 



LEARNING 215 

forming thought connections. Again, in learning by 
parts the associations set up are in part incorrect, and 
have to be in time broken up. Thus, in learning line 
by line the first lines of Longfellow's "Hymn of Life," 

Lives of great men all remind us, 
We can make our lives sublime, 

an association is set up between "us" and "lives" in- 
stead of between "us" and "we." Eventually the 
former association must be broken up and the latter 
established. 

However, the method of learning by wholes must not 
be pushed to the extreme of repeating the entire selec- 
tion over and over again merely because a few more 
difficult parts are not yet thoroughly learned. These 
more difficult portions should be learned separately. 
It is also evident that some selections may be too long 
to be learned in their whole length. In such cases the 
material may be broken up into smaller wholes, al- 
though it is probably always an advantage to read the 
entire selection at least once for the sake of the aid 
such procedure gives to understanding the thought. 

The method of learning by wholes is not always ad- 
vantageous in the case of those who have been used 
to learning by the other method. In changing from 
one method to the other, in some cases there seems to 
be some loss; but it is believed that with practice 
such individuals will find the whole method more 
effective. Even though there may be in some individ- 



216 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

uals a marked preference for the part method, the 
experimental evidence shows clearly that for the ma- 
jority of individuals the method of learning by wholes 
is much superior. 

Modes of impression and recall. — Still another 
problem of memory concerns the relation between the 
various modes of recall and the modes of impression. 
Virtually all of the material to be learned in connec- 
tion with school work may be made through visual or 
auditory or kinesthetic impressions, or by two or all 
of them combined. Now, in recalling, the form of 
imagery preferred varies from one individual to an- 
other. It has generally been held that a person who 
recalls by preference in the form of visual imagery 
will, for that reason, remember more effectively if the 
original learning is made through visual impressions. 
This view of the matter has not been confirmed ex- 
perimentally. It appears rather that any sort of orig- 
inal impression may usually be transferred easily into 
the preferred form of imagery for purposes of recall. 
In cases where ordinary methods do not bring the de- 
sired results, however, it is always to be suspected that 
very decided preferences for one-sided forms of im- 
agery are present, and methods of presentation should 
be varied to suit the individual case. 

One pedagogical device for obviating the difficulty 
arising from individual differences where pupils are 
taught in classes is the method of so-called "multiple- 
sense appeal." By this method all material is learned 



LEARNING 217 

through as many sense avenues as possible. In this 
way pupils may have their preferences allowed for 
in at least a part of the instruction. At the same time, 
the multiplicity of association creates a greater possi- 
bility of successful recall. In this connection it may 
be well to repeat that the various types of mental 
imagery may be cultivated, and in special cases this 
form of training may be resorted to. The experimen- 
tal evidence seems to show that the visual form of 
recall is more accurate but less rapid than the auditory. 
The principle of recall. — As soon as any material 
that is being studied begins to be fairly well learned, 
it is advantageous to try to recall it without the aid of 
the book. The recall of the subject matter of study 
under these conditions helps to show where the great- 
est emphasis should be put on the subsequent learning. 
The effort required to recall makes for concentration 
and affords an opportunity for the student to anticipate 
how his mind will work when the teacher questions 
him or he is otherwise tested. Under such circum- 
stances associative aids are likely to be formed that 
will be found to be of much value later on. 

References 

Freeman, F. N. How Children Learn. Chapter III. 

(Houghton Mifflin, 1917.) 
Starch, D. Educational Psychology. Chapters III, 

IV, V, VI. (Macmillan, 1919.) 



218 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

Thorndike, E. L. Individuality. (Houghton Mifflin, 
1911.) Educational Psychology (Briefer Course). 
Chapters XXI-XXVII. (Teachers College, Co^ 
lumbia University, 1914.) 



CHAPTER XIII 

TRANSFER OF TRAINING 

The problem of formal training, — A problem of 
considerable importance to educational theory and 
practice is raised when one asks the question: "Does 
the increased efficiency caused by learning in one sub- 
ject give increased efficiency in others?" For example, 
does the study of Latin merely give knowledge of Latin, 
or does it train the mind so that it has an increased 
capacity for other subjects as well? 

One view is that all training is general. — Two 
opposed views have been held in answer to this ques- 
tion. According to one view, all learning is general 
in its effects. The mind is trained by exercise, just 
as is the body; or, if not the mind as a whole, certain 
general capacities of the mind, such as memory 
or observation or reasoning. Probably most persons 
assume that the pursuit of any school subject re- 
sults in training the mind as well as in giving the pupil 
information about that particular subject. The claim 
is often made that Latin is good discipline, that nature 
study cultivates powers of observation, that geometry 
develops reasoning ability, the idea in each case being 
that the effects of the learning are not limited to the 
particular study, but are general. 

219 



220 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

The view that training is specific. — On the other 
hand, there are those who hold that all learning is 
specific in its results, that is, it is confined in its effects 
to the particular kind of situation in which it was 
learned. Latin trains the mind for things other than 
Latin only in so far as Latin is related to these other 
things — as, for example, English. The training of 
observation in nature study increases capacity of ob- 
servation for natural objects, but not for other things, 
such as people's faces or pictures. While a person 
may be trained by the study of geometry to reason 
mathematically, he will reason no better on that ac- 
count in matters of politics. Ordinary observation 
shows that such capacities are not general. Thus, 
a person may be neat in dress, but not neat in other 
respects; he may have a good memory for faces, but 
a poor memory for names; one may be accurate and 
precise in the use of English, but quite the reverse in 
mathematics. In short, there is reason to believe as 
has been stated by Thorndike, that "training the mind 
means the development of thousands of particular 
independent capacities, the formation of countless 
particular habits." 

Can memory be trained ? — Take the case of mem- 
ory. Is it true that memory in general can be trained 
by practice? William James attacked this problem in 
what was at that time a novel manner. Since memory 
is primarily a matter of retention, he held that it is 
dependent upon the original plasticity of the nervous 



TRANSFER OF TRAINING 221 

system, and therefore that it could not be improved 
by practice. James explained those cases in which 
improvement of memory by means of practice seems 
to take place by saying that such improvement is due 
to improved methods of learning, rather than to any 
improvement in the retentive capacity. It is a well- 
known fact that persons who have a great deal of 
memorizing to do become very proficient. It is no un- 
common matter, for example, for a stock company of 
actors and actresses to be playing one play, rehears- 
ing a second, and learning a third each week. 

In cases like these James believes that facility is 
acquired by the building up of many associations and 
thus increasing the possibility of revival, and by the 
development of habits of attention and thought that 
make the learning easier and the recall surer. What 
appears to be improved memory is in reality the ac- 
quiring of better habits of learning. 

An experimental attack on the problem. — In order 
to test his conclusion experimentally, James practised 
his memory by learning the entire first book of Milton's 
"Paradise Lost." Before beginning this practice, how- 
ever, he tested his memory by finding out how long it 
took him to learn 158 lines of Victor Hugo's "Satyr." 
Again, at the end of the practice with "Paradise Lost" 
he tested with 158 lines of the "Satyr," and found no 
improvement over his earlier memorizing. 

This experiment made by James, and those of some 
of his students made at the same time, were somewhat 



222 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

inconclusive because of differences in the results and be- 
cause of very evident faults in the methods of carry- 
ing out the experiments. James himself admits, for 
example, that he was "perceptibly fagged" when he 
tested himself the second time on the "Satyr." Since 
that time, however, large numbers of experiments made 
in a similar way but with greater refinement of method 
have been carried out not only concerning memory but 
in many other fields. 

Further experimentation. — Ebert and Meumann 
attempted to discover to what degree memory may be 
generally improved by practice in memorizing nonsense 
syllables. Before beginning the practice they tested the 
ability of those taking part in the experiment to re- 
member numbers, letters, geometrical forms, German- 
Italian vocabularies, poetry, prose, etc. At certain in- 
tervals during the practice period with the nonsense 
syllables and at the end of the experiment they were 
tested again with numbers, letters, etc. It was found 
that improvement took place in memorizing the non- 
sense syllables to the extent of 70 per cent. At the 
same time an improvement of from 11 to 81 per cent 
took place in memorizing the other sorts of material 
that had not been directly practised. 

In general the larger degree of improvement in the 
test series was in the material most like nonsense 
syllables. Thus, the gain in remembering numbers 
was 60 per cent, while that for poetry was only 11 
per cent. Other experimenters have shown that Ebert 



TRANSFER OF TRAINING 223 

and Meumann's percentages of gain in remembering 
the material not directly practised are too high, be- 
cause the tests themselves afforded some opportunity 
for practice. Dearborn has shown that persons taking 
tests just as did Ebert and Meumann's subjects, but 
without any training series at all, nevertheless im- 
proved to an average amount of 32 per cent. The true 
gain made by the effects of training is, therefore, con- 
siderably less than the amount of Ebert and Meu- 
mann's figures. 

Rugg's experiments. — Rugg investigated the effect 
of a semester's training in descriptive geometry on the 
capacities of students taking the course. The problem 
was to discover whether this training was limited in 
its effects to the subject studied or whether there was 
a spread or "transfer" of effects to other capacities. 
His experiments included tests of two groups of stu- 
dents, the ".training group" (those taking descriptive 
geometry) and the "control group" (those not taking 
descriptive geometry). Both groups took certain "pre- 
liminary tests" at the beginning of the experiment and 
both groups took the "end tests" at its close. The 
preliminary and end tests were of the same sort, being 
designed to test capacity of visual imagination in vari- 
ous ways. For example, in one series of tests the stu- 
dents were asked to divide numbers mentally; in 
another they were required to picture the letters of 
the word "material" and to form from these letters as 
many new words as possible; in still another to form 



224 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

a mental picture of certain geometrical objects (for 
example, a wedge) and to count the number of straight 
lines that it would take to construct one in space. 

As a result of these tests Rugg found that (1) the 
training group taken as a whole made greater gains 
than the control group in the end tests as compared 
with the preliminary tests; (2) the training group 
contained a larger proportion of gainers than the con- 
trol group; and (3) the training group gained in a 
larger proportion of the tests taken than did the con- 
trol group. 

General conclusions. — The experiments that have 
been described may be regai'ded as typical, both in 
their methods and in their results, of the large majority 
of investigations concerning transfer of training. 
Taken as a whole, the following generalizations may 
be made: 

(1) In nearly all cases there is evidence of some de- 
gree of transfer of the effects of practice to other 
capacities than those directly trained. 

(2) The amount of improvement effected by prac- 
tice directly is almost always considerably greater than 
the amount of mdirect or transfer effect. 

(3) The amount of the transfer effect is usually 
greater in the case of mental capacities that are similar 
to those practised than in the case of those that are 
less similar. 

The upholder of the doctrine of general training 
is therefore warranted in his belief that there are valu- 



TRANSFER OF TRAINING 225 

able by-products to be expected from proper training 
in any specific field of study. On the other hand, it 
is no longer possible to maintain that the best way 
of training the student for definite situations is to 
teach him something else. Experiment shows that 
when the right hand is trained to perform a certain 
task, the left hand shares to a certain extent in the 
increased power and skill ; but it would be an extremely 
inefi5cient way of training the left hand to do it in- 
directly through training the right. The danger in 
holding the doctrine of formal training in an extreme 
form is that it leads to a blind trust in the formula 
"train the mind" and the specific purpose of the train- 
ing is lost sight of. As will be seen in a later chapter, 
even such useful subjects as reading and writing are 
sometimes carried to unnecessary lengths because of 
the persistence of the belief that the constant drill 
is "training the mind." 

Training by means of difficult subjects. — The term 
"mental discipline" is sometimes used with the idea 
back of it that education, if it is worth while, must 
train the pupil to do hard work. This capacity for 
overcoming difficulties is in large measure equivalent 
to giving concentrated attention to the work and per- 
sisting in doing so after the interest flags. When a task 
becomes wearisome there are feelings of strain and 
unpleasantness. Training helps the pupil to disre- 
gard these unpleasant feelings and continue the task, 
and there can be little doubt that such training func- 



226 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

tions more or less generally. But difficult tasks should 
not be imposed on the student merely because they are 
difficult, for there are enough difficult tasks to perform 
that are also useful. If, at the same time, the difficult 
task can be made the natural outcome of an original 
or acquired interest of the pupil, he is relieved of 
drudgery without any loss of mental discipline. To the 
extent that the compulsion to continue his task comes 
from within, it results in permanent training; but if 
it is imposed from without it does not function unless 
the outward authority is present. 

Negative transfer. — It has been found that under 
some circumstances practice in one direction may not 
only not bring about added efficiency in another, but 
may even interfere with increased efficiency in the 
second. For example, in the case of one of his subjects 
Judd found in his experiments with the MuUer-Lyer 
illusion, already referred to, that practice overcame 
the illusion. When, however, the figure was reversed 
end for end, not only was the practice effect not 
carried over to this slightly different situation, but 
a great deal of practice on the figure in this latter form 
failed to bring about any improvement. As Judd points 
out, we see this sort of thing in every-day life, where 
specialization along a certain line tends to narrow the 
interests in that direction, and to that extent precludes 
the development of interests in other directions. So far 
from developing the power of observation in general, 
for example, training in observing things through 



TRANSFER OF TRAINING 227 

microscopes may develop observation of that sort to 
such an extent as to interfere with the habit of ob- 
serving other things. 

Conditions of transfer. — Judd's experiment with 
the MUller-Lyer figure shows further that whether 
transfer of practice effects takes place or does not may 
depend not so much on whether the second situation 
is similar to the first as on the learner's attitude to- 
ward his problem. While, in the case of the subject 
referred to above, there was no transfer effect from 
the practice with the figure in the one form to the 
other, in the case of another subject there was. The 
difference in the two cases was that the first subject 
knew nothing about the results of the practice. He 
did not know that there was an illusion to begin with, 
and he did not know that he actually saw the figure in 
a new way after practice. In the case of the second 
subject, however, both of these conditions were well 
understood. 

Various other experiments tend to show that the 
learner's knowledge of the results of his learning and 
his general attitude toward the problem may deter- 
mine whether transfer effects take place. Children 
taught to be neat in arithmetic, for example, were 
found in one experiment not to have acquired any 
more neatness in their other work. In another experi- 
ment, however, in which the conditions were slightly 
changed by trying to impress the "ideal" of neatness 
on the pupils, a general improvement in neatness re- 



228 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

suited. School life is full of situations that may lead 
to the cultivation of important attitudes of general 
serviceableness, such as accuracy, thoroughness, in- 
dustry, initiative, and independent thinking. 

If, then, we raise such questions as whether train- 
ing in geometry develops the capacity for reasoning 
in general, there seems little doubt that the correct 
answer is that in some instances it does and in others 
it does not. Whether it does or does not depends on 
whether the pupil acquires a feeling for logical con- 
sistency which he strives to carry out in all his think- 
ing. The skill of teachers must be largely measured 
by the success they have in developing such generalized 
attitudes in their pupils. 

References 

Freeman, F. U. How Children Learn. Chapters 

VIII-XI. (Houghton Mifflin, 1917.) 
JuDD, C. H. Psychology of the High School Subjects. 

Chapter XVII. (Ginn, 1915.) 
Starch, Daniel. Educational Psychology. Chapters 

XI-XIV. (Macmillan, 1919.) 
Thorndike, E. L. Educational Psychology (Briefer 

Course). Chapters X-XVIII. (Teachers College, 

1914.) 



CHAPTER XIV 

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 

Individuals differ from one another in mental 
capacities. — Up to this point the description given of 
the mental life may have created the impression that 
people are for the most part alike or nearly alike in 
their mental capacities. To be sure, it was shown in 
connection with the discussion of mental imagery that 
very important differences exist between different in- 
dividuals. It was there shown that under similar ob- 
jective conditions some people have a preference for 
the use of some one or more kinds of mental imagery, 
while other persons prefer a different kind. Such dif- 
ferences as these may be called qualitative differences, 
since they refer to the use of different kinds of mental 
processes by different persons under similar conditions. 
Besides the qualitative differences between individ- 
uals, there are also large quantitative differences, that 
is, differences in the degrees of efficiency that different 
persons are able to exert in using the same kind of 
mental capacity. Both the qualitative and quantitative 
individual differences are so important for education, 
and so apt to be overlooked m thinking and practice, 
that it will be well to consider them in some detail. 

229 



230 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

Individual differences in physical traits. — Indi- 
vidual differences in physical traits are easily observ- 
able. When measurements of such traits are made in 
the case of large numbers of individuals some interest- 
ing facts are revealed. The following table gives the 
heights of 1171 sixteen-year-old girls and the number 
and percentage of the whole group that have reached 
each height: 

Table II 

Height in Centimeters Number of Cases Per Cent of Cases 

13&-139 2 0.2 

140-143 12 1.0 

144r-147 54 4.6 

14&-151 159 13.6 

152-155 280 23.9 

156-159 310 26.5 

160-163 218 18.6 

164-167 102 8.7 

168-171 31 2.6 

172-175 2 0.2 

176-179 1 0.1 

The curve of distribution. — These facts may also 
be shown in the form of a diagram (Fig. 28) called a 
surface of frequency or distribution curve. The hori- 
zontal base line is laid off into ten equal divisions, 
each of which represents one of the four centimeter 
units of the table. The height of the vertical line at 
each of the division points on the base line represents 
the number of cases of that height. Thus the first 
vertical stands for two cases, and the last, which is 
half as long as the first, for one case. Either the height 
of the various points above the base line or any one of 
the rectangles may be regarded as standing for the 



INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 



231 



number of individuals of the heights indicated at the 
base. The larger the number of individuals measured 
and the smaller the units laid off on the base line, the 



oioN. — incft'ON. — mo 



1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


I 


T 


1 


I 


7 


T 


tf> 


o 


■4- 


(0 


CM 


vO 


O 


^ 


00 


cvl 


» 


!2 


^ 


^ 


^ 


in 


tn 


vi> 


ii) 


y) 


N 


K 



Fig. 28. Distribution curve for Table II. 

less broken the curve becomes, so that it is reasonable 
to suppose that with a very large number of cases and 




Fig. 29. Form of curve to which Fig. 28 would approximately 
conform if an indefinitely large number of cases were taken, and the 
units of height were very small. 

small units it would approximate the form of the curve 
in Fig. 29. 

From an inspection of such a curve, it appears (1) 



232 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



that the majority of persons possess the trait to an 
average degree; (2) that there are about any equal 
number of persons above the average and below the 
average at each corresponding point; (3) that the num- 
ber of persons becomes smaller and smaller as the 
amount of deviation from the averages becomes 
greater and greater, and (4) that there are no really 
separate groups with distinct gaps between them. 




© 






0) 2 z £* 12 '^ •" 



Fig. 30. Distribution of the intelligence quotients of 112 kinder- 
garten children as measured by the Stanford revision of the Binet- 
Simon scale. (After Terman.) 

Distribution of intelligence. — Mental capacities, as 
far as they have been measured, seem to be distributed 
in much the same manner as such physical traits as 
height. Terman found, for example, that when he 
measured the intelligence of 112 kindergarten children 
by means of the Stanford revision of the Binet scale, 
the distribution was shown in Fig. 30. It will be 
seen (1) that the kindergarten children measured vary 
in intelligence all the way from 60 to 150 on a scale 



INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 233 

where 100 represents average or normal intelligence; 
(2) that the number of children ranking from 130 to 
150 or above is practically the same as the number 
ranking below 80; (3) that those who are of average 
intelligence constitute 20 per cent of the number, and 
that if we add to these the total number in the next 
higher and next lower groups 65 per cent of all the 
children are included. 

Evidently, if such children were to be divided into 
groups of nearly equal ability it would not be sufficient 
to make two divisions — the one inferior and the other 
superior. The smallest number of such groups that 
would answer the purpose would be three — one large 
group containing the persons who are of average or 
nearly average ability, and two smaller groups, the 
one of inferior and the other of superior ability. 

Intelligence tests and their results. — The bureau of 
educational research of the University of Illinois has 
measured the intelligence of large numbers of children 
by means of the Illinois intelligence scale (see Appen- 
dix). This is a series of tests on which each pupil 
who takes the examination makes a certain score. 
If the score made is the same as the average score for 
pupils of the same age, he is said to be of average 
intelligence and his mental and chronological age are 
the same. If, however, a pupil whose chronological 
age is 6 makes a score equal to the average score of 
8-year-old children, he is said to be of greater than 
average intelligence and to have a mental age of 8. 



234 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

Similarly, another child may be 6 years old chrono- 
logically, but his mental age may be found to be but 4 
years. Dividing the mental age by the chronological 
gives the Intelligence Quotient (I. Q.), which is the 
index of the child's brightness or dullness. The In- 
telligence Quotient is generally expressed without the 
decimal point. Thus if a child of 6 has a mental age 
of 6 his I. Q. is 100 ; if his mental age is 4 his I. Q. is 



^o 



Fig. 31. Distribution curve of the intelligence quotients of 586 
eighth-grade children of Decatur, Illinois, as measured by the Illi- 
nois intelligence examination. (See Appendix.) 

66.6 ; and if his mental age is 8 his I. Q. is 133. Fig. 
31 shows the distribution of the I. Q.'s of all the eighth- 
grade children of Decatur, Illinois, who were attend- 
ing school when the examination was given. It will 
be seen that the curve is of the same general shape as 
those of Fig. 28 and Fig. 30. 

Overlapping of mental ages in the grades. — So 
great are the differences in the ability of children that 
the mental ages of children in the various grades over- 



INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 



235 



lap to a surprising degree. Table III gives the figures 

for the third, fifth, and eighth grades of an Illinois 

city. 

Table III 



Mental Age 


5.5-6.5 


6.5-7.5 


7.5-8.5 


8.5-9.5 


9.5-10.5 


Grade III 

Grade V 


15 
3 


41 
11 


48 
26 


34 

61 

2 


63 


Grade VIII 


6 




Mental Age 


10.5^11.5 


11.5-12.5 


12.S-13.5 


13.5-14.5 


14.5-15.5 


Grade III 

Grade V 


1 
36 
16 


12 
30 


9 
35 


3 
33 




Grade VIII 


33 




Mental Age 


15.5-16.5 


16.5-17.5 


17.5-18.5 


Over 18.5 




Grade III 

Grade V 


17 


12 


6 


8 




Grade VIII 





These figures show that there are some pupils of 
Grade III whose mental ability is equal to that of 
some of the pupils of Grade VIII. The overlapping 
of the abilities of the pupils of Grade V with those of 
the other grades is, of course, even more marked. 

Fig. 32 shows similar overlapping for Grades IV, 
VI and VIII. 

People differ widely in all mental capacities. — 
Wherever it is possible to measure the mental capac- 
ities of a fairly large number of individuals, it is 
found that wide differences in ability exist, regardless 
of the capacities tested and the grouping of individuals. 



236 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



,„ Grade H 

. -m 

- cm 




MENTAL AGE 



Fig. 32. Showing overlapping of intelligence of Illinois school chil- 
dren in Grades IV, VI and VIII. These curves are drawn from 
records of the Bureau of Educational Research, University of Illi- 
nois, and represent measurements of approximately 20,000 pupils. 

The following figures are taken from Starch and show 
the results of a number of tests on 50 university stu- 
dents: 



Quickest. 
Slowest. . 



Memorizing 



60 seconds 
240 seconds 



Opposites 



30 seconds 
110 seconds 



Addition 



31 seconds 
115 seconds 



Subtraction 



15 seconds 
90 seconds 



The first column shows the time taken by the two 
students who were quickest and slowest in memorizing 



INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 237 

a stanza of poetry. It will be seen that the quickest 
student memorizes four times as rapidly as the slow- 
est. The others range between these two extremes, 
with the larger number at or near the average. 

There is almost as great a difference in the results 
of the "opposites" test, in which the students were 
shown a list of words and the time was measured that 
was required to associate these with other words oppo- 
site to them in meaning. The same is true for the 
"addition" test, and in the case of the "subtraction" 
test the difference is still more marked. 

Great differences in achievement between children 
of same age and grade. — Educational tests given to 
school children in reading, writing, arithmetic, and 
other school subjects have given the same picture. 
Even in a single grade, where children have been 
selected because they are supposed to be somewhat 
uniform in their attainments, very wide variations 
have been shown to exist. H. A. Brown made a study 
of the reading capacity of children in New Hampshire 
schools by means of carefully devised tests. He de- 
scribes the condition found in one fourth grade as 
follows: "There are six pupils in the class who are 
totally unable to read. The best reader in the grade 
is nearly thirty-eight times as efficient as the poorest. 
The twenty best readers have about nine and one half 
times as great reading ability as the twenty who have 
the least reading power." 



238 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



Table IV gives the scores of a large number of pupils 
of the seventh and eighth grades in Harlan's standard- 
ized test in American history. This test is composed 



Table IV 



Score 


vjr 


^^^ 


VII 


VIII 





3 


2 


6 


19 


10 


11 


37 


13 


16 


63 


35 


21 


79 


42 


26 


94 


61 


31 


93 


79 


36 


100 


90 


41 


115 


98 


46 


113 


79 


51 


99 


95 


56 


65 


100 


61 


65 


92 


66 


54 


112 


71 


35 


136 


76 


35 


136 


81 


18 


187 


86 


13 


140 


91 


3 


118 


96 


6 


66 


Total 


1,109 


1,691 


Median * 


43.9 


68.2 



* The median is a measure sometimes used instead of an average. 
When all the measurements are arranged in order of size, the middle 
measurement is the median. 

of a series of forty-two questions in American history. 
The correct answer to each question is assigned a def- 
inite value and definite instructions as to how to score 
are given. The table gives the scores made by pupils 
in May. On the basis of more than 2,000 answers to 



INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 



239 



each question, the median scores in June are 56 for 
the seventh grade and 86 for the eighth. It will be 
seen from the table how enormously children in the 
same grade differ from one another in their knowledge 
of American history. 

Much the same picture is afforded by the figures in 
Table V, which shows the scores of more than 2,000 

Table V 





Grade 


Score 








VII 


VIII 





8 


23 


1 


18 


51 


3 


30 


87 


5 


52 


121 


7 


103 


154 


9 


134 


133 


11 


193 


201 


13 


225 


203 


15 


225 


237 


17 


259 


217 


19 


322 


214 


21 


304 


233 


23 


242 


214 


25 


202 


171 


27 


262 


63 


29 


127 


94 


31 




56 


Total 


2,706 


2,472 


Median 


19.7 


17.2 



eighth-grade pupils on the Monroe standardized rea- 
soning tests in arithmetic. (See Appendix.) These 
scores are based on the number of examples in arith- 
metic in which the correct principle was followed, re- 
gardless of the correctness or incorrectness of the 



240 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

calculations. It is apparent that pupils differing so 
widely in ability to solve these problems cannot be 
taught successfully by the same methods and in the 
■same classes. Such instruction almost inevitably 
comes to be adapted for those of average ability. 
Pupils whose capacities are either above or below the 
average cannot profit as they should from such instruc- 
tion. 

Schools must be organized so as to take these 
differences into consideration. — Such investigations 
as these indicate that the usual methods of promotion 
do not accomplish the purposes for which they are in- 
tended, namely, the bringing together of pupils who 
are of the same or nearly the same capacities. Pro- 
motions have been on the basis of age or length of 
time in school rather than on ability to do a certain 
grade of work, resulting in a handicap to the schools 
and injustice to individual pupils. Brighter pupils 
are kept from progressing at their normal rate, and 
duller pupils are advanced beyond the point where they 
are able to cope with the work. 

Reasons for individual differences. — Individual 
differences in mental capacities may be due either to 
native endowment or to training, or to the influence 
of both combined. It is difficult to prove definitely 
which of these two factors is the more important, but 
there is evidence that in many instances the differences 
are innate. One of the most striking indications that 
this is the correct view comes from studies of the 



INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 241 

effects of equal amounts of practice on individuals 
who start with differing degrees of ability in some 
performance. Henmon, for example, studied the re- 
sults of practice in the four fundamental operations 
of arithmetic during the course of a school year. He 
found that "those with the highest initial scores have 
the highest final scores and gain most both absolutely 
and relatively." 

Figures for the fifth grade are reproduced in Table 
VI: 



Table VI 






Average at 


Average at 




beginning 


end of 


Gross 


of year 


year 


gain 


ility) .... 15.8 


61.5 


45.7 


ility) .... 13.3 


44.5 


31.2 


ility).... 11.5 


32.5 


21.0 



Group I (highest in initial ability) 
Group II (medium initial ability) 
Group III (lowest initial ability) . 

Correlation of abilities. — Not only do these differ- 
ences increase with training, but it seems to be true 
in general, though contrary to the usual belief, that 
those who have superior ability along one line are 
likely to be superior in all others. Thorndike has 
summed up the evidence on this point as follows: "All 
trustworthy studies so far made of the relations be- 
tween amounts of desirable single traits in the same 
individual agree in finding direct or 'positive' relations 
between such traits. Having a large measure of one 
good quality increases the probability that one will 
have more than the average of any other good quality. 
He who can learn better than the average through the 



242 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

eyes tends to learn better than the average through the 
ears also ; he who can attend to one thing better than 
all other men will be able to attend to many things at 
once or in rapid succession better than most of them. 
Artistic ability, as in music, painting, or literary crea- 
tion, goes with scientific ability and matter-of-fact 
wisdom. The best abstract thinker will be above the 
average in concrete thought also. The rapid workers 
are the more accurate. Intellectual ability and moral 
worth hang together." 

Some of the best examples of studies which have 
shown that desirable abilities generally go together are 
those based on school grades. Starch found the corre- 
lations between grades in various school subjects given 
in Table VII: 

Table VII 

Arithmetic and language 85 

" " geography 83 

" " history 73 

" " reading 67 

" spelling 55 

Language and geography 85 

" history 77 

" " reading 83 

" spelling 71 

Geography and history 81 

" reading 80 

" " spelling 52 

History and reading 67 

" spelling 52 

Reading and spelling 58 

The degree of relationship in Table VII is expressed by 
the fractions varying from .37 to .85. A perfect re- 
lationship, such that the highest pupil in one subject is 



INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 243 

highest in another, the second highest in the one the 
second highest in the other, and so on, would be ex- 
pressed by 1. The relationships expressed in the table, 
therefore, are not perfect, and in cases of some in- 
dividuals there may be a decided lack of relationship. 
The figures indicate that such, however, are not the 
typical cases. It is the observation of such extreme 
and unusual cases that gives rise to the erroneous opin- 
ion that mental capacities are highly specialized. 

Necessity for individual instruction. — The net re- 
sult of the investigation of quantitative individual dif- 
ferences in mental capacities is to show the necessity for 
flexible schemes of promotion, and the arrangement 
of pupils into groups that are truly homogeneous with 
respect to their capacities. Having arranged the pupils 
in groups that have nearly equal abilities, however, 
the important qualitative differences still remain. 
Tests of performance in any school subject fail to re- 
veal why one individual differs from another. In many 
instances, as we have seen, the reason is a difference 
in native ability. In many other instances the reason 
is that the pupils go about their tasks in different 
ways. They employ different methods. The tests, 
therefore, do not in reality measure the same mental 
capacities. Indeed, the teacher is in duty bound to 
assume that in all cases of slowness of progress the 
difl5culty can be remedied, until all available means of 
discovering its source and all possible means of over- 
coming it have been used. 



244 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

Illustration of the effects of extreme individual 
differences. — An example of the importance of em- 
ploying methods suited to the individual child may be 
cited from Bronner: 

We know, for instance, of a boy now fourteen years 
old whose entire school career has undoubtedly been 
greatly modified for the better because his intelligent 
parents understood better than his teachers the harm 
that was resulting from the use of methods not adapted 
to his defective functioning in certain mental processes. 
It was early recognized that the boy had poor auditory 
powers and exceptionally good visual powers. When 
five years old he drew a very good representation of 
the facade of an ancient university building he had 
seen, and at seven made a most complicated drawing 
of a quadruple-expansion waterworks engine. Though 
a great effort was made from the time he was a year 
or so old to teach him Mother-Goose rhymes and 
other couplets, he never cited correctly the simplest 
verse until he was six years old; nor has he ever 
been able to carry a tune correctly or sing a song, in 
spite of intensive and oft repeated attempts to teach 
him simple music. It is interesting to note, for in- 
stance, that "America" has been sung and played to 
him hundreds of times, and even been played by him, 
without his acquiring the ability to sing it. 

At five years of age this boy was sent to a fine 
private school, where the teaching in {he first grades 
was largely oral. When in the third grade he was 
placed in a subclass for backward children because he 
was so retarded in number work. Though the boy 
made no progress in music nor in memorizing verses, 



INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 245 

this was not interpreted as of any significance, nor 
was any effort made to utilize his good visual powers 
in place of his defective powers of audition. When, 
however, his parents were told (by an unusually com- 
petent teacher) that the boy was not learning arith- 
metic and was probably defective in this type of work, 
they themselves began to teach him by visual pres- 
entations. In two weeks he had not only mastered the 
work assigned in the grade, but led his class. In the 
next two years, acquiring the power to learn by visu- 
alization, he accomplished the ordinary work of four 
school grades. Now, at fourteen, through extensive 
compensations, little difficulty arises; he transposes, 
probably often unconsciously, many auditory percepts 
into visual form. His own introspections, as well as 
his method of studying, show very conclusively that 
visual means are employed whenever possible. His 
powers of perceiving logical relationships are extremely 
good, and these, together with his quite unusual visual 
gifts, enable him to maintain class standing consider- 
ably in advance of his years. It is interesting that 
even now his greatest disability is in regard to lan- 
guage; in spite of all the advantages derived from the 
best of environmental conditions, the boy shows poor 
feeling in the use of English. In dealing with foreign 
languages there is great aptness displayed in learning 
the structural form, but quite a little trouble with 
achieving an idiomatic translation. It is evident that 
in this field he is hardly at all aided by sound. 

References 
Freeman, F. N. How Children Leam. Chapter III. 
(Houghton Mifflin, 1917.) 



246 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

Starch, D. Educational Psychology. Chapters III, 
IV, V, VI. (Macmillan, 1919.) 

Thorndike, E. L. Individuality. (Houghton Mifflin, 
1911.) Educational Psychology (Briefer Course). 
Chapters XXI-XXVII. (Teachers College, Colum- 
bia University, 1914.) 



CHAPTER XV 

MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 

Bodily development. — Careful study of the physio- 
logical changes that take place from year to year as 
the child grows older shows that these changes are 
not always uniform, but that there are periods of 
relatively rapid and relatively slow growth. The pe- 
riods of rapid growth are somewhat dififerent in boys 
and girls. Increase in height, for example, in the case 
of boys is rapid from the age of four and a half years 
to eight and a half years, slow from eight and a half 
to twelve and a half, and rapid from twelve and a 
half to sixteen and a half. For girls, on the other hand, 
increase in height is practically constant from six and 
a half to sixteen and a half. Increase in weight in boys 
is rapid from six and a half to eight and a half, slow 
from eight and a half to twelve and a half, and rapid 
again from twelve and a half to sixteen and a half. 
For girls increase in weight is rapid from six and a 
half to eight and a half, slow from eight and a half to 
ten and a half, and rapid from ten and a half to four- 
teen and a half. While boys are in general taller and 
heavier than girls of the same age, girls excel boys 
in height during the ages between twelve and fourteen, 

247 



248 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

and in weight between thirteen and sixteen. This 
means that girls mature earlier than boys; but as soon 
as the boys reach the stage of maturity they again excel 
the girls in both height and weight. 

Danger of applying average results to individuals. — 
The figures for increase in height and weight show how 
difiicult it is to give a general statement of the way 
in which physical development takes place, for the 
curves of growth in height and weight differ consider- 
ably from one another, and the curve for the boys 
differs from that for the girls. Studies of the other 
bodily functions and organs, such as lung capacity and 
size of head, show that these also have their own 
characteristic curves of growth, differing from those 
of height and weight. Furthermore, besides the im- 
portant sex differences that have been pointed out, 
there are highly important differences between one 
individual and another of the same sex, which tend to 
be obscured when the descriptive statement is based on 
averages. As a matter of fact, the average difference 
in height and weight between one child and another 
of the same age is greater than the average increase 
of the group for a year. As Terman has put it, "Each 
individual is a law unto himself. A school child may 
be several inches shorter and many pounds lighter 
than the average for children of his age, race, and sex, 
while fully reaching the standard which nature has 
set for him." 

Are bodily and mental development parallel? — The 



MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 249 

mental life in its various phases also shows fluctua- 
tions of rate of development. The question naturally 
presents itself whether mental development and bod- 
ily development are closely parallel or whether they 
take independent courses. This question is diflBcult 
to answer for several reasons, one of which has al- 
ready been stated. It is difficult to get a general state- 
ment of bodily development, to say nothing of mental 
development, for changes in one capacity do not closely 
parallel those of another. In the second place, the 
investigators who have studied this question are not 
wholly in agreement in their conclusions. If we con- 
fine our attention, however, to the relatively sudden 
changes of puberty, it has been fairly well demon- 
strated, as Baldwin says, "that the stages of physical 
and mental maturity are parallel, irrespective of 
precocity or brightness. This would require that tall, 
healthy children of accelerated physiological develop- 
ment be encouraged to proceed through school as 
rapidly as possible within the limits of thoroughness, 
and that the small, light children of retarded physio- 
logical development be kept below or in the normal 
grade, doing supplementary work, since these short, 
light pupils are immature in mental development, al- 
though in many cases precocious in degree of bright- 
ness. It also follows that rapid, healthy growth favors 
good mental development, and, therefore, that the 
healthy growing child should have plenty of physical 
and mental exercise." 



250 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

The culture-epoch theory of mental development. — 
A number of attempts have been made to define in 
more or less detail the stages of development of mental 
capacities. One of the first of these was the culture- 
epoch theory. This theory, in turn, was based on the 
biological law of recapitulation, according to which life 
changes in an individual run closely parallel to the 
changes that have taken place in racial history during 
the course of the evolution of higher from lower forms 
of animal life. The culture-epoch theory carries this 
view over to the mental life, and holds that the stages 
of mental development in the child correspond to the 
stages through which the race has passed in its evolu- 
tion from lower forms of animal life to man in his most 
primitive form and the subsequent progress from sav- 
agery to civilization. According to this view, the child 
at one stage is a hunter, at a later a nomad, then an 
agriculturist, etc., in his interests and instincts, and his 
education should follow these interests and in that 
order. 

Impossibility of describing mental development on 
basis of this theory. — Whatever may be said of the 
truth of the culture-epoch theory in its broader aspects, 
the most careful study will fail to reveal any exact 
parallelism between the child and the race in mental 
development. The culture epoch theory has failed to 
give any detailed view of stages of development in the 
child, though it has undoubtedly been one of the 
factors in making educators emphasize the importance 



MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 251 

of child study, and of basing educational procedure on 
child nature rather than on abstract schemes of what 
may be regarded from the adult point of view as 
logically appropriate methods. 

Another form in which the recapitulation theory has 
been carried over in the description of mental de- 
velopment is given in the writings of G. Stanley Hall 
and others. This view has been presented in summary 
form by Bagley, who distinguishes three stages of de- 
velopment. These stages are (1) the transition period 
(6-8 years of age) ; (2) the formative period (8-12 
years of age); (3) the adolescent period (12-18 years 
of age). 

The transition period. — This earliest period in the 
life of the school child is thus named because during 
this period there takes place "a passing over of interest 
from means to end, from process to product — an initial 
development from passive to active attention." Never- 
theless, there is but little development of capacity for 
active attention during this period. The child is not 
able to reason in any real sense at this time. Hence 
instruction of an intellectual kind must be largely 
through appeals to the senses and that which is in- 
herently interesting. In the moral sphere the child's 
action must be forced in the right direction by reward 
and punishment. 

The formative period. — This is the period for drill 
and habit formation. "While passive attention is still 
dominant, the concentration and effort that active at- 



252 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

tention involves can be demanded with less fear of 
disastrous consequences. In the early part of the 
formative period the capacity for logical reasoning is 
still nascent, although it would seem to make its pres- 
ence felt in a slight degree at about the age of nine." 

The adolescent stage. — The adolescent stage is 
characterized by mental changes as profound as the 
physical changes of that period. These changes are 
first of all of an emotional character. "Fear, love, 
pity, jealousy, emulation, ambition, and sympathy are 
either now born or springing into their most intense 
life." The child now acts from social motives rather 
than individualistic as heretofore. He may now be 
influenced both intellectually and morally by appeals 
to reasoning. 

Evidence lacking for marked changes from period 
to period. — While the picture that Bagley has given 
is suggestive and instructive, it must be accepted with 
reserve because (1) it is not based on experimental 
evidence. All such descriptions are necessarily limited 
to the impressions gained by observation of children, 
and there has been much disagreement even among 
the most capable observers; (2) it tends to exaggerate 
the suddenness with which mental changes actually 
occur. It is certainly not true, for example, that the 
child can reason in any essentially different way after 
the age of nine from that in which he reasons before 
that age. The truth is that the child's reasoning capac- 
ity is present from the earliest years, and that he is 



MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 253 

able to deduce conclusions whenever the data are sim- 
ple enough for him to understand. This capacity in 
the young child is limited by his lack of experience. 
Just as untrue is it to say that there is ever a time after 
school age when the child is not capable of some de- 
gree of sustained effort and attention. Furthermore, 
while the physical and mental changes of adolescence 
are profound, there is little, if any, ground for holding 
that at this time the child becomes a new being, or that 
he becomes suddenly endowed with entirely new capac- 
ities. 

Kirkpatrick's stages of mental development. — 
Another elaborate scheme of representing stages of 
mental development has been contributed by Kirk- 
patrick, who uses susceptibility to social influences as 
the criterion. On this basis the following stages may 
be distinguished: (1) Pre-social. During this period 
the child is influenced only by objects and by animals 
and persons in the same way as if they were objects. 
This period ends near the close of the first year. (2) 
Imitative and socializing stage. During this period, 
which lasts till about three years of age, "the child 
becomes more and more susceptible to mental influ- 
ences and his mental states are determined to a con- 
siderable extent by the mental states of those around 
him." 

(3) The third stage, which culminates at about six 
years of age, may be designated as the individualizing 
stage, during which the conscious personality that has 



254 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

been developed during the previous period becomes 
more distinctly individual and asserts itself, instead of 
merely assimilating the characteristics of others. 

(4) The fourth stage, ending at about twelve years 
of age, may be described as the period of competitive 
socialization. It is a period when a child is introduced 
to a wider social environment and in which the im- 
pulses to excel in competition are prominent and are 
brought out in association with others of the same 
age. 

(5) The fifth stage, culminating at about eighteen 
years of age, may be called the pubertal or transitional 
period. During this time the youth and maiden be- 
come more susceptible to many social influences that 
formerly affected them not at all, and many new and 
important interests develop that are characteristic of 
the sex and age. 

(6) The sixth period, ending at twenty-four years of 
age, may be designated as the stage of later adoles- 
cence, during which the individual is ushered into the 
larger world of thought and action and becomes pre- 
pared to take his part in the various activities of the 
race as a fully developed man or woman. 

Such schemes must be accepted with caution. — 
Like the other scheme just presented, this one must 
be viewed with the same caution, as Kirkpatrick him- 
self is careful to point out. In reality there are no 
sharp breaks between these various periods ; the capac- 
ities of one period are not absent from the preceding 



MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 255 

and succeeding periods; the ages given must be re- 
garded as only approximate, and even the order of 
the stages may vary in different individuals. 

It is safe to say that at the present stage of our 
knowledge no description of the child's mental life in 
terms of stages of development can adequately repre- 
sent the facts. Some children develop rapidly at cer- 
tain periods with respect to a particular capacity, others 
slowly, and still others gradually. Even when changes 
occur relatively suddenly, there are frequently great 
differences in the ages at which these changes appear. 
Take, for example, the case of instincts. Here, if any- 
where, we should expect to find uniformity of develop- 
ment in different individuals. It is true that some 
instinctive tendencies crop out more or less suddenly, 
but to argue a general law of development from these 
cases is impossible. It is a matter of common observa- 
tion, for example, that some children pass through 
stages in which fear of certain situations seems to de- 
velop suddenly, and after a certain length of time as 
suddenly disappears. Other children of the same fam- 
ily may not exhibit the same tendencies to sudden 
development of fear of these situations at all, or 
if at all they may appear at entirely different times. 
Of course, it may be said that these differences are 
due to differences in experience, but as a matter of 
fact they often occur when they cannot be accounted 
for in this way. 



256 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

The facts of mental development, therefore, at the 
present stage of our knowledge cannot be adequately 
described in general terms. We are justified only in 
presenting the facts that are known with regard to 
certain capacities that have been measured, and even 
then it is necessary to remember that these pictures 
of mental development must be taken with reserve (1) 
because the measurements have been made on different 
groups of children at the various ages instead of the 
same children from year to year, and (2) because it is 
certain that the differences between one child and an- 
other in respect of any particular capacity is frequently 
greater than that from one age level to another. Keep- 
ing these limitations of our data in mind, we may add 
to what has already been said in the foregoing chapters 
the description of some particular mental capacities, 
which can be outlined in more or less accurate fashion. 

Development of motor control in tapping. — Some 
light is thrown on the development of motor activities 
by studies that have been made of the rate at which 
children can tap at various ages. All investigators 
agree that the rate of tapping increases from the ages 
of six to eighteen years. There may be periods of 
rapid and slow growth, but the investigations do not 
agree in showing what these are. Bryan's study in- 
dicates that the muscles of the fingers and wrist are 
less developed at six years than are those of the elbow 
and shoulder, as shown by Table VIII, where tapping 



MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 257 

Table VIII 

Boys 

Six years 

Fingers 57 

Wrist 64 

Elbow 72 

Shoulder 69 

ability at six years of age is expressed as a per cent 
of the ability at sixteen years of age. 

While these figures show a relative immaturity of 
finger control at the age of six, it is difl5cult to see how 
they can be used, as some writers have used them, to 
support the view that writing should not be taught 
until the age of nine or ten, or even that the early 
writing of the child should be by means of the so- 
called arm-movement method rather than finger move- 
ments. 

Development of the instinct for making collections. 
— Practically the only investigation of instinctive 
activities the results of which can be put in terms of 
numbers is that of Burk, who got replies from more 
than one thousand children through their teachers 
with reference to the number of collections they had 
made. Classified by age and sex, the records were 
as in Table IX: 

Table IX 

Age 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 

Average per child.. 1.5 2.3 4.0 4.0 4.4 3.3 3.0 3.4 3.0 2.9 2.7 2.5 

Burk enumerates three stages through which this 
instinct seems to pass: (1) Up to the age of eight the 



258 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

child simply heaps up possessions in haphazard fash- 
ion. (2) From the eighth to the eleventh or twelfth 
year the instinct is strongest and applies to the largest 
number of kinds of things collected. This is the period 
when the child is most interested in making collections 
of butterflies, flowers, bird's eggs, etc. (3) The third 
stage, in the adolescent period, is the one that needs 
careful direction along scientific lines. Otherwise it 
is likely to take the form of collecting articles of no 
value except for their sentimental interest instead of 
becoming a motive for valuable training. 

Development of the play instinct. — Studies of the 
play o{ children have been made by the questionnaire 
method. These show that the interest of both boys 
and girls in toys is present very strongly at an early 
age, but declines steadily after the age of six. On 
the other hand, interest in ball games rises steadily up 
to adult years in the case of boys, while with girls it is 
never great and remains virtually constant. Games 
of chase are engaged in extensively from the age of 
nine up to fourteen, when the interest in them begins^ 
to decline. Rivalry and cooperation, two important 
phases of play life, are strong from the time of the early 
period of adolescence and into adult life. (See Fig. 33.) 

Development of capacity to make drawings. — 
Allied to play, especially in its earlier manifestations, 
is drawing. Children's drawings have been studied 
in much detail and thousands of their drawings have 



MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 



259 



been collected and classified. We may take as an illus- 
tration of the stages of development enumerated by 
different authors that of Meumann. The first stage is 
that of scribbling, lasting up to about the fourth year. 




}toys 



.f BOYS") BALL 

GIRLSjOAMES 

M BOYS I GAMES 

■tt CIRLSj OF CHASE 



Fig. 33. Curves showing the interest of boys and girls at various 
ages — in toys, ball games and games of chase. (After Croswell.) 



This stage begins with aimless lines and scratchings, 
enjoyed apparently only because of the activity con- 
nected with them, but with no purpose of representa- 
tion. Later the lines become parts of objects to suit 
the child's fancy. Only toward the latter part of the 
period is there any beginning of real representation, 



260 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

and then it is a bringing together of lines to stand for 
characteristic parts of the objects represented. 

The second stage is that of the schematic outline. 
The child does not attempt to represent the object in 
the way it is seen, but rather to draw what he knows 
about it. The same schematic outline will serve to 
represent men, women, and children, and will suffice 
for animals. This stage lasts till about seven years 
of age in the case of those more gifted in drawing. 

In the third stage the child begins to have a feeling 
for lines and forms. At this period he makes the first 
attempts to reproduce objects in their true form with 
parts properly related, though mixed with such draw- 
ings are the schematic outlines of the second stage. 

In the fourth stage the schematic representation dis- 
appears and objects are represented in their true form, 
though little capacity is present for representing the 
third dimension. 

In the fifth stage, beginning about the eleventh year 
in those more advanced in drawing, the representation 
of perspective begins to appear. The sixth stage is that 
in which proper distribution of light and shadow effects 
are added. 

Meumann states that in general boys are superior 
to girls in drawing ability, though girls have a certain 
degree of superiority in sense of color and decorative 
work. 

Development of attention. — It is difficult to test 
attention, because it is so obviously a function of every 



MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 261 

other capacity. Bagley's statement that there is a 
development of active attention as the child grows 
older is confirmed by ordinary observation. Every- 
thing seems to indicate, however, that this development 
is gradual and that, furthermore, children very early 
are capable of voluntary attention. There are clearly 
wide variations in this respect. The assumption that 
children are capable of sustained attention not at all, 
or only in connection with play and other purely in- 
stinctive activities, certainly does not hold for the 
majority of children at school age. Interest in the 
school subjects, for example, may in the majority of 
cases be as easily aroused as in the case of adults. Most 
children are much interested in the accomplishment of 
forms of activity that they see older persons perform- 
ing. Like older persons, too, they can and do whip up 
their flagging attention to such tasks under the spur of 
social pressure. It is true that younger children tire 
more easily than older under such conditions, and need 
more frequent changes and shorter periods of employ- 
ment on any one test; but the mental picture of the 
child at school age here, as elsewhere, is not essentially 
different from that of older children. 

Development of memory. — Contrary to the gener- 
ally accepted belief, children do not memorize more 
readily than adults, even in the case of rote learning 
or memorizing word for word. While adults some- 
times do not learn by rote as readily as children, it is 
due to lack of practice in that method of learning. 



262 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

With practice the adult is superior to the child in this 
as in other mental capacities. 

Immediate memory, that is, ability to reproduce ma- 
terial immediately after learning or seeing it, can be 
tested 'by presenting letters or digits or words for a 
short time and then requiring that they should be re- 
produced. The largest number reproduced in the cor- 
rect order is called the "memory span" for that kind 
of material. Smedley found that the memory span for 
digits when heard was better than when seen in the 
case of younger children from seven to nine years of 
age; but from that time onward the visual method of 
presentation is increasingly more effective. Increase 
in capacity for both the visual and auditory increases 
rapidly, the visual up to fourteen and a half, the audi- 
tory up to thirteen and a half years of age. After these 
ages the increases are slow. 

Development of reasoning capacity. — It is difficult 
in the case of all mental capacities to state how much 
of the difference between the child and the adult is due 
to the child's mere immaturity and how much to lack 
of experience. Indeed, the capacity itself is condi- 
tioned by experience, and has no existence apart from 
it. It is especially difficult to find tests of the reason- 
ing capacity of children adequate to their experience; 
but ordinary observation of children shows that they 
reason in situations the elements of which are familiar 
to them. Thus a child of four years of age, who was 



MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 263 

accused of having made finger-marks on a white door, 
replied : "I could n't have done it, for I am not tall 
enough." In some cases the conclusion of the child 
may be ridiculous to the adult, but it is none the less 
a reasoned conclusion, as in the case of the two-year- 
old who asked why the stove did not walk, since it 
had legs. 

Tests of reasoning as shown in the ability to solve 
arithmetical problems show no marked increase in 
capacity at any particular school age. On the contrary, 
there seems to be a gradual increase in ability from one 
grade to another of the elementary school. The figures 
of Table X are taken from Bonser's study in which the 
arithmetical problems of the army intelligence scale 
w^ere used for testing 632 pupils from Grade 4B to 8A : 

Table X 

Grade 4B 4A 5B 5A 6B 6A 7B 7A 8B 8A 

Average 3.8 5.02 5.5 5.8 6.3 7.2 7.5 7.7 8.8 9.3 

Number of cases 37 76 44 56 64 67 69 82 58 79 



References 

Bagley, W. C. The Educative Process. Chapter 

XII. (Macmillan, 1905.) 
JuDD, C. H. Psychology of High School Subjects. 
KiRKPATRiCK, E. A. The Individual in the Making. 

(Houghton Mifflin, 1911.) 
Waddle, C. W. An Introduction to Child Psychology. 

(Houghton Mifflin, 1918.) 



CHAPTER XVI 
READING 

In the next four chapters it will be the purpose to 
apply the principles already studied to some of the 
more common branches of elementary school learning, 
and to study the processes involved in them in some de- 
tail. In all of this work it will be convenient to follow 
the divisions suggested by the principle of the sensori- 
motor arc. We shall then have to study the various 
sensory, motor, and central processes involved in these 
different forms of learning. In making this classifica- 
tion, however, it should constantly be remembered that 
these processes are not in reality separate processes, 
but only distinguishable aspects of a single unitary 
group of processes. 

Sensory processes in reading. — Beginning, then, 
with the sensory processes involved in reading, it will 
be noted at once that these processes are the ones we 
have already learned to recognize as perceptions. Psy- 
chologically, a printed word is as much an object of 
visual perception as that occurring on looking at a 
tree or a stone. Valuable light has been thrown on the 
process of perception involved in reading by the ex- 
periments with the tachistoscope. The tachistoscope 

264 



READING 265 

is a piece of apparatus by means of which visual ob- 
jects, such as words and letters, can be exposed to view 
for very short periods of time and then covered by 
means of a screen. The instrument may be adjusted 
so as to present the material to view for any short in- 
terval desired. If this time interval be made so short 
that the eye does not move during the period of ex- 
posure, one may study the process of recognition of 
words and letters during the time of a single visual 
fixation. If separate letters net forming words or syl- 
lables are exposed in this way, six or seven at most are 
recognized. On the other hand, long words of twenty 
or more letters may be recognized, especially if they are 
familiar, as well as simple sentences containing from 
four to six words. In these experiments words may be 
misspelled without the observer noticing anything un- 
usual. Foreign words are less easily perceived and in 
general more familiar words are more easily recognized 
than others of the same length. 

It is frequently a matter of surprise to older persons 
who have been taught to read by the alphabetic method 
that children may be taught to read without having 
first learned to recognize the letters of the alphabet. 
Such experiments as these show why this can be done. 
Visual recognition of words does not imply the recog- 
nition of the separate letters of the word, any more than 
the perception of objects in general implies the per- 
ception of all the parts of the object. The general form 
of the word as a whole, to which certain of the more 



266 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

conspicuous letters may largely contribute, is all that 
is necessary in order that the word may be perceived. 
Reading in this way is more rapid and effective than 
would be the case if it were necessary that each sepa- 
rate letter should become, in turn, an object of atten- 
tion. 

Motor processes in reading. — These principles and 
others are further emphasized by a study of reading on 
its motor side. The most obvious motor processes con- 
nected with reading are those that bring about the 
pronunciation of the words after they have been per- 
ceived. The child has usually already fixed forms of 
speech for nearly all the words used in his early reading. 
Teaching the child to speak these words is not usually 
a problem for the teacher, though much needs to be 
done to improve his pronunciation and enunciation in 
detail. The child has learned to pronounce these words 
by imitating others, and neither speaks nor hears them 
as a series of separate sounds, such as phonetic analysis 
reveals them to be. They are heard as unitary wholes, 
just as they are seen as unitary wholes when printed. 
Indeed, unless special instruction in phonetic analysis 
is given, the word as heard and pronounced is broken 
up into its elementary sounds to a much slighter de- 
gree than is the case when the word is perceived 
visually. 

Distinction between silent and oral reading. — At 
this point a distinction must be drawn between oral 
and silent reading. The earliest instruction of the child 



READING 267 

must almost of necessity be in the oral form of reading, 
but this kind of reading does not constitute the goal of 
the learning process except in a minor degree. The 
eventual usefulness of the child's learning to read 
must depend almost exclusively upon the ability he 
acquires to read silently with speed and understanding. 
In silent reading the motor processes of the throat 
which in oral reading produce the spoken words are 
modified and repressed, though it is probable that they 
are seldom if ever entirely absent. Children find it 
difficult to read to themselves at first without at least 
whispering. Many persons never get beyond the stage 
of lip-reading, and most persons have more or less 
marked muscular changes in the throat as silent read- 
ing progresses. 

Such considerations as these show that oral and 
silent reading are in part different activities, and sug- 
gest that it is not safe to assume that training in oral 
reading will result in efficient silent reading. In oral 
reading the speed is limited by the time it takes to 
pronounce the word; in silent reading the speed may 
be similarly limited by the motor speech processes 
that accompany it. Only by training and practice can 
these processes be modified so as to approximate in 
speed the rapid movement that it is possible for the 
eyes to make in silent reading. 

Eye movements in reading. — The last statement 
turns our attention to another group of important 
motor processes common to oral and silent reading — 



268 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

that is, eye movements. It is probable that if we knew 
all there is to know about the way in which the eyes 
move in reading we should be forced to conclude that 
it is as important to train these movements in learning 
to read as to train the hand in learning to write. Vari- 
ous means, among them that of photographing the eyes 
on a moving plate or by a kinetoscopic camera, have 
been used to increase our knowledge of what the eye 
does in reading. It is found that the eye never moves 
in a continuous left-to-right movement, as would be 
naturally supposed, but that it fixates some point in 
the line of print, then rapidly moves forward to another 
point of fixation, and thus by a series of stops and 
movements passes along the line. It is only at the time 
that the fixation pause is made that the words of the 
printed page are perceived. While the eye is moving 
nothing is seen, the movement being too rapid for clear 
vision. 

Fig. 34 shows the characteristic movements of the 
eye in the reading of a practised adult reader. It will 
be seen that there are three distinguishable kinds of 
movement. Usually the point of the first fixation is 
well beyond the beginning of the line; the eye then 
moves on from point to point in the left-to-right direc- 
tion, usually stopping and making the last fixation 
before the end of the line is reached. Occasionally, 
however, the eye makes movements backward in the 
right-to-left direction. These movements are usually 
very short, and undoubtedly indicate that at these 



READING 



269 



points there is a need for clearer vision of what has 
already been read. Finally, there is the long sweep 
of the eye from near the end of one line to near 
the beginning of the next. The number of fixation 



2 / 



3 V 



S 



Wher 



!)enny had 



/^ /r 



regained consciousness, and 



// 



ever) 



thing possible for hii comfort 



a 



and for the 



as- 



w 



/2 



sistanee c 



f his distracted 



-nolher, had been done: and 



4iL 



JZ 



/7 



/2. 



P^G. 34. Showing eye-fixations of an adult reader in three lines 
of print. Each vertical line indicates a fixation. The order in which 
the fixations were made is indicated by the numbers above each line. 
The numbers below the line indicate the duration of the fixations in 
units of fiftieths of seconds. (From Judd, Reading: Its Nature and 
Development, by permission of the author.) 

pauses varies with the length of the line, the dilBficulty 
of the content, and with the practice of the reader. 

Eye movements of trained and untrained readers. — 
A comparison of the eye movements of practised and 



270 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



unpractised readers (both children and adults) shows 
that the latter make more pauses in the course of the 
reading, and this accounts for their slowness. Further- 



I Z 3 if 5 



The UK on 



« iO K 



^ / 



lad I lisapp eared , and snow > 'as 



(> 7 9 



8" 



falling: 



/^ /6 



/o 



17 X 



^37 



rapidly, an( i th ; sound o distant ci liipes re a ii dec 



/f 



7f 



4>/0 



// 



^ // 



Z3 Zl 

X 






/6X 
l(» Z(, 
/3 /g 



Davyth i it n ustb<:p3stiaidii ght 



// 10 IS!. 






/¥ 



fSl^Zfk 



and that Christ 



«3 



3(, Ii 10 



Fig. 35. Showing eye-fixations during silent reading of a slow 
reader in the fourth grade who has been shown by tests to have poor 
ability to comprehend what he reads. Note the large number of 
fixations and of shifting movements. (From Judd, Reading: Its 
Nature and Development, by permission of the author.) 

more, the pauses of unpractised readers are longer, and 
more of the backward shifting movements occur. (See 
Fig. 35.) Clearly, then, we have here in the eye move- 
ments used in reading an example of a habit that re- 
quires training just as much as is the case of the train- 



READING 271 

ing of the hand to write. The observations of the 
investigators of eye movements in reading indicate 
that no small part of the facility of good readers 
depends not only upon the reduction of the number of 
necessary pauses in the course of the reading, but also 
the moving of the eyes along in a series of rhythmically 
related movements. The method of eye photography 
has been used by Judd and others to diagnose the 
diflBculties that poor readers have to contend with in 
reading, and in the attempt to remedy their faults. 
Even in those extreme cases where inability to read 
has approximated alexia, or word-blindness, analysis 
of the child's methods and careful individual instruc- 
tion have in many instances resulted in marked 
improvement. 

Central processes in reading. — Having discussed 
the sensory and the motor processes in the act of 
reading, we now turn to the central processes involved. 
First of all, in learning to read, it is necessary for the 
child not only to recognize the words to be read, but 
also to associate them with the sounds of the words 
as pronounced. This act of association follows the 
laws already laid down for association. When the 
word is pointed to on the blackboard and the teacher 
pronounces it, the child forms an association between 
the sound of the word (auditory impression) and its 
appearance (visual impression), which is the more 
permanent the more attentive the child is to these 
impressions (factor of vividness). Repetition serves 



272 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

to increase this permanency of association, while lapse 
of time (lack of recency) tends to break down the 
association. Usually the associative processes set up 
by the pronunciation of the word are reinforced by the 
child's own articulatory processes. Thus the associa- 
tion will involve not only the auditory impressions 
from the child's voice but the kinesthetic sensations 
from those muscles of his throat concerned in the 
speaking of the word. 

Central processes involved in understanding what 
is read. — Thus far we have been engaged in describing 
the act of reading as a relatively mechanical process. 
All of these processes may in some cases go on unin- 
terruptedly without true reading taking place at all, 
as when a selection is read correctly, even as to empha- 
sis and inflection, without, however, the meaning being 
grasped. The heart of the act of reading is the acqui- 
sition of meanings from the printed page. All the 
mechanisms included in the reading act thus far 
described exist for this purpose alone and have no 
significance apart from this purpose. The nature of 
meaning as a psychological process has already been 
discussed in the chapter dealing with language. In 
the present connection it is necessary to add, however, 
that difficulty arising in connection with reading for 
thought-getting is usually not connected with the 
meanings of individual words, though such difficulty 
may sometimes be present. The much more usual 
difficulty is that of combining the meanings of words, 



READING 273 

phrases, and sentences. This involves memory of 
what has already been read in addition to a certain 
amount of anticipation of what is coming, together 
with those higher thought processes necessary for the 
understanding of such logical connections between 
ideas as may be expressed in the reading material. 

It is in these memory and anticipatory and higher 
thought processes that consciousness must be chiefly 
engaged if the purpose of the act of reading is to be 
accomplished. This will not be the case unless the 
other processes have become so automatic as to free 
the attention for the acquisition of meanings in con- 
nected sequence. Undoubtedly this explains why it is 
that in general rapid readers get more thought from 
the reading than slow readers, as has been shown to 
be the case by a large number of careful investigations. 
The slow reader has not mastered the mechanics of 
the reading act, as is shown not only by the fact that 
he is slow, but also by the fact that he understands 
less of what he reads. 

Individual differences in reading capacity. — The 
great complexity of the act of reading must have pre- 
pared us to expect that great individual differences in 
reading efficiency exist among pupils of the same age 
or grade. In the Cleveland Survey the tests of oral 
reading showed that "in many third-grade classes there 
were pupils reciting together who ranged in ability 
from those unable to read as well as the average first- 
grade pupil to those able to surpass the average eighth- 



274 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



grade pupil. In the intermediate and upper grades 
there were a number of pupils who were still unable 
to pronounce at sight some of the simpler words, and 
stood at a level no higher than that of the average 
first- and second-grade pupil. In the grades above 
the second there were pupils in nearly every class who 
were excellent oral readers and for whom it is doubtful 
whether continued daily drill is longer necessary." 

That the condition with respect to silent reading is 
usually even more unsatisfactory may be seen from 
Tables XI and XII. These tables give the scores in 
the Monroe silent reading test (see Appendix) of three 
classes (grades 4A, 6B, and 8A) of a single school sys- 
tem of a city in Ohio. They are selected almost at 
random from a large number of similar records on file 
in the Bureau of Educational Research of the Univer- 
sity of Illinois. In Table XI the rate is given in the 



Table XI 



Rate per minute 


Grade 4 A 


Grade 6B 


Grade 8 A 


140-149 


1 


3 


4 


130-139 





4 


1 


120-129 


2 








110-119 


4 


6 


8 


100-109 


1 


4 


7 


90- 99 


2 


11 


8 


80- 89 


4 


10 


5 


70- 79 


7 








60- 69 


9 


11 


4 


50- 59 


10 


5 


2 


40- 49 


3 


4 




30- 39 









20- 29 









10- 19 




1 





READING 



275 



left-hand column and the number of pupils in each 
grade reading at that rate is given opposite. Thus one 
pupil in grade 4A reads at a rate of 140-149 words per 
minute; 3 pupils in grade 6B and 4 in grade 8A read at 
the same rate, etc. 
Table XII gives the results for the same classes in 

Table XII 



Comprehension 


Grade 4 A 


Grade 6B 


Grade 8 A 


42-44 






1 


39-41 









36-38 






3 


33-35 




3 


4 


30-32 


1 


1 


3 


27-29 





6 


4 


24-26 


2 


2 


4 


21-23 


3 


4 


6 


18-20 


3 


9 


1 


15-17 


5 


10 


8 


12-14 


6 


12 


4 


9-11 


12 


6 


1 


6- 8 


8 


2 




3- 5 


5 


2 




0- 2 


1 


2 





comprehension. This is tested by the ability of the 
pupil to answer questions based on what was read. 
Different values are assigned to the correct answers 
to the questions. The table shows that one pupil in 
grade 8A made a score of 42-44 in comprehension; 3 
in the same class scored 36-38, etc. 

Judd also found in the Cleveland Survey that the 
individual differences of children of the same grade 
are even more marked than in the case of oral reading. 



276 



PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 



This fact is well illustrated in Fig. 36, which presents 
a comparison of the same pupils in oral and silent 
reading. The upper figure shows the distribution of 
these pupils on the basis of their rate of oral reading. 
The lower figure is based on the rate of silent reading. 
The relatively spread out character of the latter figure 
indicates that there is a much greater amount of difier- 



in I I I M 



a 



cm 



ft 



^ 



iinin i rii i iiM 



xx 



Fig. 36. The upper curve shows the distribution of the pupils of 
a fifth grade of the public schools of Cleveland, Ohio, in rate of oral 
reading. The lower shows the distribution of the same pupils in 
rate of silent reading. (From Judd, Measuring the Work of the 
Public Schools, by permission of the author.) 

ence between pupils in silent reading. Undoubtedly 
this difference is due in part to differences in actual 
capacity, but in part to the fact that, silent reading 
being left to take care of itself, some pupils have 
learned for themselves while others have not. System- 
atic training in silent reading for the whole class 
might be expected to reduce the amount of difference 
and make the distribution in silent reading more like 
that in the oral reading. 

References 
Freeman, F. N. The Psychology of the Common 
Branches. (Houghton Mifflin, 1916.) 



READING 277 

JuDD, C. H. Reading: Its Nature and Development. 
(University of Chicago Press, 1918.) 

Klapper, Paul. Teaching Children to Read. Chap- 
ters I-IV. (Appleton, 1915.) 

Starch, D. Educational Psychology. Chapter XVI. 
(Macmillan, 1919.) 



CHAPTER XVII 

SPELLING 

Motor processes in spelling. — It will be convenient 
to begin the discussion of spelling by considering the 
motor processes concerned first. Spelling may be either 
oral or written. In the former case there is nothing 
to be learned by the child so far as the motor proc- 
esses are concerned, since he has presumably al- 
ready learned to pronounce the names of the letters 
of the alphabet. In written spelling, on the other 
hand, the motor activities have been only imperfectly 
learned. Written spelling, therefore, is dependent for 
its effective use upon handwriting. To the degree to 
which the handwriting has not become thoroughly 
mastered the pupil is handicapped by divided attention 
between the activity of writing and that of spelling. 
An additional reason for this discrepancy between 
oral and written spelling consists in the fact that they 
are in reality two separate kinds of motor response, 
and, while they are often connected, there is no neces- 
sary relation between them. It is clear, however, that 
if spelling is to be begun early in the child's school 
career, much reliance must be placed on oral spelling 
with i/he hope that such connections may be set up. 

278 



SPELLING 279 

Sensory processes in spelling. — On the sensory side 
spelling is related to reading, since it deals with the 
same materials. The object of perception in spelling, 
however, is quite different from the object of perception 
in reading. While reading is more efficient the larger 
the unit of perception becomes, in the case of spelling 
the unit of perception must be the letter. Undoubtedly 
in the case of practised spellers the writing of words 
may be in response to large units, such as words and 
especially syllables; but in the case of the child each 
letter is written individually, and in any case each 
letter must be thought of in a sense that does not 
hold good for the act of reading. 

It is for this reason that the best method of teaching 
reading may not be, and probably is not, the best 
method of producing good spellers. Indeed, the two 
processes are naturally opposed, since spelling requires 
analysis of words into their component elements, while 
'eading is the more effective the longer the unit appre- 
"lended within the lunits required for getting the 
thought without mistakes. 

Relative value of the various means of sensory 
impressions. — Granting that the child has learned to 
associate the names and appearance of the letters of 
t'iie alphabet and is able to write them, there are a 
number of ways in which words can be presented in 
order to impress their spelling upon the learner. Thus 
they may be presented in the form of auditory or 
visual impression, and these may or may not be rein- 



280 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

forced by kinesthetic sensations from throat or hand 
in speaking or writing the letters. It becomes a mat- 
ter of considerable importance to know which of these 
methods of presentation gives the best results in the 
learning of the spelling of words. Lay's investigation 
on this point may be cited. Lay used nonsense words 
and thus was able to compare the results of the dif- 
ferent methods. Testing 3,000 children of the third 
to the eighth grades in German schools, as well as a 
number of older students taking teacher training 
courses, he found that the percentage of mistakes made 
for the various kinds of presentations were as follows: 

Table XIH 

Percentage 
of errors 

(1) Hearing (pupils not making any speech movements) 3.04 

(2) Hearing (pupils repeating silently) 2.69 

(3) Hearing (pupils repeating aloud) 2.25 

(4) Seeing (pupils not making any speech movements)... 1.22 

(5) Seeing (pupils repeating silently) 1.02 

(6) Seeing (pupils repeating aloud) 0.95 

(7) Copying (pupils repeating silently) 0.54 

Good spelling dependent on careful observation of 
the details of words. — It appears, therefore, that the 
visual method of presentation is superior to oral, and 
that copying is superior to both. Lay holds that his 
results show the great importance of the motor factors, 
since in each case the more pronounced these factors 
were the better the results. It seems probable, how- 
ever, that the superiority of these results is due not 
so much to the presence of the motor factors as such 
as to the fact that by pronouncing the letters the words 



SPELLING 281 

are more completely analyzed into their constituent 
letters. Copying makes this sort of analysis very 
thorough-going, since each letter must be written more 
or less independently. It is to be noted that the words 
used by Lay were phonetic in their character, yet the 
visual method of presentation was found to be superior 
to the auditory. If this result obtains with words that 
are spelled as they sound, it may be expected that the 
visual method is even more important in the spelling 
of English words, so many of which are of a non- 
phonetic character. Indeed, the habit of visual an- 
alysis of words is of fundamental importance if a person 
is to be a good speller of English words. The good 
speller is one who has acquired this habit with respect 
to all new words that he meets. 

On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the 
recognition of the sound elements leads to a ready and 
facile acquirement of spelling ability in most cases. 
Those combinations of letters into syllables which are 
phonetic in character and which occur frequently, like 
-ent, -ly, -Hon, etc., when once learned by correspond- 
ence of sound and letter serve to lighten the task that 
would otherwise be more difficult by the method of 
visual analysis alone. In other words, dividing words 
into syllables, when these have definite sound values, 
makes the unit of perception and memory longer than 
the single letter and makes it more comparable with 
the unit that is used in reading. 

Individual differences in spelling. — It must be 



282 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

remembered that the above results are based on aver- 
ages of many individuals taken in the mass. It does 
not follow that each individual of the mass will learn 
spelling most effectively by the methods suggested. 
Individual differences are so great that there will 
always be some pupils for whom the methods best 
adapted for the class in general will be inappropriate. 
Since spelling depends on the revival of memory 
images of the word to be spelled, the individual dif- 
ferences in mental imagery will undoubtedly have theu* 
influence on the effectiveness of the method used. If 
the pupil is weak in visual imagery the method of 
visual presentation may be of little value, while to 
another habits of phonetic analysis will be relatively 
unimportant. 

Two methods are possible in order to avoid this 
difficulty. One is by the method of so-called multiple 
appeal, that is, by the use of all methods of presenta- 
tion, so that if one is not effective another may be. 
Such methods are obviously wasteful. The second 
method is that of diagnosis of the source of difficulty 
in individual cases and the application of methods in 
accordance with the diagnosis. It must always be 
remembered, further, that few cases exist where defects 
are so serious in the use of any type of mental imagery 
that they cannot be overcome by special training. 
Indeed, what needs to be trained in all pupils is not 
so much the ability to spell individual words as the 
habit of dealing with all words in a manner that will 



SPELLING 283 

lead to their correct spelling. Some pupils readily 
learn this general habit, but relatively few. If more 
attention were given to instructing pupils how to deal 
with words for purposes of spelling, much less time 
need be spent on individual words. This is the reason 
why there seems to be so little relation between the 
time spent in drill on spelling and the results accom- 
plished, as shown by a number of investigations, 
notably those of Rice and Cornman. 

Without doubt, special drill is necessary on a certain 
limited number of words in most common use, but 
beyond this the acquirement of the ability to analyze 
words phonetically or visually or both is absolutely 
necessary if the pupil is to become a good speller. 
It is, therefore, important not only that mistakes be 
corrected, but also that the kinds of mistakes that 
occur in individual cases be studied with a view to 
overcoming faults of learning and of writing. In other 
words, instruction in how to study the spelling of 
words is of as much importance as the learning of 
individual words through drill and testing. 

Most practice in spelling should be by means of 
writing. — Since the form in which spelling is a useful 
capacity is in writing, it is reasonable to suppose that 
any testing should be made in writing, and that oral 
spelling is a relatively ineflGicient form of motor re- 
action in clinching the results of the learning. Further- 
more, it is well known to all who have observed school 
children that ability to spell words in columns is no 



284 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

safe guaranty of ability to spell them correctly in 
sentences. One reason for this is that in spelling in 
sentences the attention of the pupil is much more 
occupied with the meanings of words than when writing 
them separately in columns. Again, lapses — those 
peculiar mistakes in association that cause a person 
to write one letter when another is intended — are much 
more likely to occur under conditions of the writing of 
words in sentences. 

Value of rules. — The question of the value of rules 
in spelling has been much debated. A rule thoroughly 
understood is, in general, a valuable short-cut to knowl- 
edge. It is essentially an idea or group of ideas, and 
has the advantage in learning that we have already 
seen attached to such mental processes. In the case 
of the spelling of English words, however, the number 
of rules that apply and are simple enough to under- 
stand are very few. Most spelling rules have so many 
exceptions that only those of most general application 
and those that are the simplest to understand should 
be learned, and these at the later elementary school 
period. Their value is chiefly in arousing that critical 
sense toward one's own spelling which is essential to 
the habit of good spelling. 

References 

Cook and O'Shea. The Child and His Spelling. 
(Bobbs Merrill, 1914.) 



SPELLING 285 

Starch, D. Educational Psychology. Chapter XVIII. 

(Macmillan, 1919.) 
SuzzALLO, H. The Teaching of Spelling. (Houghton 

Mifflin, 1913.) 
TiDYMAN, W. F. The Teaching of Spelling. (World 

Book Company, 1919.) 



CHAPTER XVIII 
WRITING 

Writing an illustration of trial-and-error learning. 

— Learning to write is an illustration of the develop- 
ment of a sensori-motor habit largely dependent on the 
trial-and-error method, which has already been de- 
scribed. It may, therefore, be expected that writing 
can be learned only by a large amount of continual 
practice. The child at the beginning makes many 
superfluous movements that must eventually be 
eliminated, and the many muscles that at first do their 
work more or less separately must be coordinated so 
as to cooperate with one another. Furthermore, the 
whole process must become so automatic as to free 
the attention for the purpose of dealing with the 
meanings that are to be expressed. 

Better to begin with word wholes rather than their 
elements. — In beginning to write, the child is in 
reality drawing from a copy. Logically, all written 
words are composed of letters, and these in turn of 
lines. It seemed to the early educators, therefore, that 
the process of learning to write could be simplified for 
the child by teaching him at first to draw separately 
the lines of which the letters are composed, and later 

286 



WRITING 287 

combine them into letters and words. A psychological 
analysis, however, reveals the fact that words are no 
more split up into their logical elements for purposes 
of writing than for reading. Just as in the case of 
reading, writing is the more efficient to the degree to 
which words are responded to as unitary wholes. 
Writing does not consist in the joining together of 
separate lines or even letters, but in the writing of 
entire words in a single act. Experience shows that 
the child develops the capacity for expressing himself 
in larger writing units more rapidly and with no injury 
to form if he is habituated to respond to entire words 
from the beginning. 

Role of visual and muscular sensations. — At first, 
when it is still necessary to place the copy before the 
child for his guidance, visual and muscular sensations 
cooperate to produce the results. Eventually the 
muscular sensations will become the chief cue to move- 
ment, and vision will be chiefly concerned in general 
oversight of the process — the spacing and alignment 
of the words as they are being written and criticism 
of the spelling of words already written. 

Relation between form and speed. — The relation 
between the form and movement in writing is one of 
the problems that must be taken into consideration 
in both the beginning and later periods of practice. 
In general, writing at a speed greater than one's normal 
rate causes deterioration in form. Studies of writing 
abilities show, however, that the more rapid writers 



288 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

are, on the average, better writers from the stand- 
point of form. Since form is relatively unimportant 
provided legibility is not sacrificed, the aim in the later 
years of practice in writing would seem to be that of 
increasing one's normal rate of movement to the 
highest point consistent with legibility. 

In beginning writing, on the other hand, the em- 
phasis should be in the other direction. The aim of 
the child at first must be to produce as exact a repro- 
duction of the copy before him as possible. He needs 
to learn how it feels (muscular sensations) to produce 
the right movements. He also needs to build up 
correct visual images of letter shapes. If he is allowed 
to repeat unsatisfactory forms over and over again 
the practice defeats its own end, since it will ultimately 
be necessary to break up the bad habits being formed. 

Writing involves many groups of muscles. — If all 
the muscles more or less directly concerned in writing 
are taken into account, they undoubtedly number 
several hundred. When it is remembered that all 
these must be coordinated and that there are no purely 
instinctive adjustments directly applicable to writing, 
it will be seen how difficult a task the child faces in 
learning to write. 

Holding the pen. — Let us examine some of the 
principal movements that must be executed in writing. 
First of all it is necessary to grasp the pen-holder or 
pencil in a certain way. This is ordinarily acccni- 
plished by the combined action of the thumb and the 



WRITING 289 

first and second fingers. Many children have learned 
to hold the pencil in approximately the correct fashion 
before entering school in their early attempts at 
writing and drawing; but in any event it must be 
learned, the natural method of holding such objects 
being by the reflex grasping movements of the whole 
hand, which is entirely unsuitable for writing. 

Forming the letters. — Next, consider the move- 
ments that are directly responsible for the forming of 
the letters. It is entirely possible to form the letters 
by movements of the arm as a whole, using the shoulder 
joint as an axis. This is the natural method in pro- 
ducing very large letters, and also where no support 
for the arm is provided, as when writing on the black- 
board. Writing on the blackboard is advocated for 
beginners, on the ground that in this way the letter 
shapes may be learned and produced by movements 
of the shoulder muscles, and that these muscles are 
much less easily fatigued than the muscles controlling 
finger movements. 

Another method of forming the letters is possible 
when the arm is supported as under the ordinary con- 
ditions of writing. By this method the letters are 
also formed by movements of the arm as a whole, but 
chiefly of the fore-arm, the pivot in this case being the 
large muscle of the fore-arm on which it is resting. 
This movement of the fore-arm, by means of which the 
backward and forward movement of the pen as well 



290 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

as the circular movement may be made without in- 
volving any finger movement, is known popularly as 
arm-movement or muscular writing. These move- 
ments are produced by the muscles in the part of 
the arm between the elbow and shoulder. 

Finally, the form of the letters may be produced 
by movements of the fingers alone. Here the form is 
produced by varying degrees of pressure and relaxation 
of the fingers as they cooperate to make the up-and- 
down strokes and the various slants and curves. 

For example, a downward stroke is made mainly 
by the pressure of the first finger against the pen, while 
the thumb and second finger guide. If additional 
pressure is exerted by the second finger the line will 
deviate to the left. To produce a curve such as that 
of the downward stroke of the c there must be an excess 
pressure exerted first by the second finger and then by 
the thumb. When the stroke reaches the bottom, the 
first finger must relinquish the chief role, which then 
passes to the thumb. If the next upward stroke forms 
the first stroke of an e, for example, the middle finger 
first gives way and then presses against the thumb 
to form the loop at the top. On the other hand, if 
the next letter is the m, the second finger exerts a 
somewhat stronger pressure during the upward stroke 
and then releases it at the top. Such is the ever- 
shifting balance of forces by which the apparently 
simple writing movement proceeds. It is not to be 
wondered at that the child's pen runs off the track, 
and the precision of the adult writer is only to be 



WRITING 291 

ascribed to the wonderful efficiency of an act that has 
become a habit through long practice.^ 



Arm movement vs. finger movement. — The rela- 
tive advantages of the use of finger and arm move- 
ments to produce the forms of letters is a question on 
which as yet there cannot be said to be unanimity 
of opinion. Some experts hold that finger movements 
should be totally excluded if writing efficiency is to 
reach its highest level. It is held that finger move- 
ments are fatiguing and that those who do most writing 
learn this and tend to eliminate the fingers from the 
work of writing except for the purpose of holding the 
pen-holder. 

Against this view it may be urged that the fingers 
are more adapted for making such finely graded move- 
ments as those leading to letter formation than are 
the coarse, heavier muscles. Children naturally, when 
uninstructed, use the fingers for this purpose, and it 
is almost impossible to get them to use the arm move- 
ment at the age when they usually begin to write. 
Furthermore, relatively few pupils ever succeed in 
entirely eliminating finger movements, and many of 
those who do fall back into the old habit as soon as 
the period of special training has passed. 

Carrying the arm across the page. — Next in impor- 
tance to the movement of the fingers or arm, or both 
combined, to produce the form of the letters, come the 

'Freeman, F. N. The Psychology of Handwriting. 



292 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

movements that carry the hand forward across the 
page. These movements may be made by the fore- 
arm, with the elbow as the center of rotation of the 
movement, or with the muscle on which the arm rests 
as the center. Another method found in many writers 
is that of lifting the arm and thus shifting it along. 
Authorities are pretty well agreed at the present time 
that the use of the muscle pad as the pivot is the 
most economical method of producing this movement, 
since it can be made in this manner without inter- 
rupting the continuous progress of the writing. 

Pronation. — Still another movement enters directly 
into the writing activity. It is clear that the hand 
must not simply move across the page with either the 
elbow or muscle pad as the center of the movement, 
for if it does it cannot keep the writing on a level line, 
nor can a uniform slant of the writing be maintained. 
The only way to accomplish these results without 
lifting the arm is by the movement of pronation. As 
the hand proceeds from left to right, in the writing 
of most adults it tends to rotate in such a way as to 
keep the hand always prone or flat. 

Good writing rhythmical in character. — Besides 
these actions, which are more directly present in bring- 
ing about the writing results, there are many other 
muscular activities indirectly concerned, such as those 
of keeping the body in the proper position. Before 
the writing habit is perfected all of the muscular 
activities must be properly coordinated. Nothing is 



WRITING 293 

more characteristic of the beginner's writing move- 
ments than this lack of coordination. The child's 
effort to produce results is accompanied by a very 
general state of muscular tension. The discharge of 
nervous impulses is at first in part into muscles that 
have no relationship to the production of the writing 
movement. Many children roll their heads from side 
to side, press their feet strongly against the floor, or 
even make tongue movements while they are writing. 
As the habit becomes more ingrained these movements 
tend to disappear. Again, the movements more di- 
rectly concerned in the writing are at first incoordi- 
nated. Instead of making the sweeping, continuous 
movement of the adult, the child proceeds by a series 
of intermittent short movements. Even single strokes 
of letters require separate movements for their pro- 
duction in many cases, whereas with the adult the 
whole word or in some cases phrases are written with- 
out any interruption to the onward flow of the writing. 

Careful studies of the writing of adults show that 
the more efficient writers in reality proceed by a series 
of rhythmical actions, and this is perhaps the most 
characteristic difference between the writing of the 
adult and that of the child. Devices to help the child 
to acquire this rhythmical motion, such as counting, 
etc., further the child's progress in extending the 
writing unit. 

Usefulness of writing scales. — Recent investiga- 
tions of writing by means of standard tests and the 



294 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

use of writing scales have done much to put the subject 
of writing instruction on a more scientific basis. Such 
investigations have banished the behef that slow, 
laborious writing movements, resulting in beauty of 
form, are worth being cultivated. The aim in writing 
is the production of legible characters at an efl&cient 
speed and with economy of effort. Even with respect 
to speed, instruction in writing may become too 
formal. It can scarcely be doubled that the advice of 
Thorndike that pupils be released from writing, in- 
struction and allowed to devote the time to learning 
typewriting, after they have reached a reasonable 
degree of proficiency in speed and form, is sound. 

References 

Freeman, F. N. The Teaching of Handwriting. 
(Houghton Mifflin, 1914.) The Handwriting Move- 
ment. (University of Chicago Press, 1918.) 

Thompson, M. E. Psychology and Pedagogy of 
Writing. (Warwick & York, Baltimore, 1918.) 

Thorndike, E. L. Handwriting. (Teachers College, 
1915.) 



CHAPTER XIX 

ARITHMETIC 

Numbers illustrate abstract thought. — The psy- 
chology of arithmetic affords a splendid illustration 
of the nature and use of abstract thought. The num- 
ber relationships that we apply to objects can scarcely 
be said to be properties of the objects themselves. 
They are rather ideas or concepts that the mind con- 
structs in order to think of objects in certain useful 
ways. In this respect number relationships differ 
very much from the colors and other sensory qualities 
of objects. We apply the numerical relations to the 
objects, but in so doing the mind rather imposes its 
scheme of things upon the objects, whereas the latter 
seem to impress their sensory qualities from without. 

Number ideas have developed gradually. — Accord- 
ingly, number ideas have been evolved very gradually 
under the impetus of practical usefulness, and in the 
end complex relationships are worked out that are so 
purely abstract as to be believed to be true wholly 
apart from any application to objects. Number is thus 
an abstract system of relationships constructed by the 
mind because of its usefulness in thinking of things in 
this way. 

The history of the gradual evolution of number 

295 



296 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

systems gives a fascinating picture that well illustrates 
how man has progressed in his conquest of nature and 
in the art of perfecting social relationships. This has 
been due to his capacity to form ideas and hand them 
down from generation to generation, with gradual 
accretions by means of language. 

The earliest form of appreciation of quantitative 
relationships is merely a vague feeling of more or less, 
which it is probable even the lower animals possess. 
Sometimes this is the direct result of the perception 
of the difference in size of spatial magnitudes; but in 
other cases, where there is a series of similar temporal 
events, it approximates counting. Thus, two series of 
taps may be distinguished from one another as longer 
or shorter even without recourse to actual counting. 

Counting began by tallying. — There is much evi- 
dence to show that counting originated by means of 
a system of tallies. Vague impressions of differences 
in size are not suitable to the practical demands of 
life. If a person has a large flock of sheep, the loss 
of one is not likely to be known unless some sort of 
counting is resorted to. Man began, therefore, under 
such circumstances to lay aside certain objects such 
as pebbles (compare calculate, from Latin calcul — a 
stone), which were easily manipulated, one for each 
object that was to be counted. It was natural that 
the fingers should be used frequently as a convenient 
means of tally, and it is undoubtedly due to this fact 
that our number system is a decimal system. 



ARITHMETIC 297 

Tallying is thinking in symbols. — The important 
aspect of tallying from the psychological point of view, 
however, is that here we are dealing with the beginnings 
of that abstract mode of thinking which gradually 
became more and more abstract in character, and finally 
developed into the complex series of number relation- 
ships that we now possess. When primitive man had 
come to the point where he laid aside objects of one 
sort to represent or symbolize others, he had come to 
realize that for purposes of his own thinking he could 
treat the one set of objects as if they were the other. 

Counting arises from putting objects and symbols 
in related series. — Connected with this process of 
symbolizing one group of things by another is a further 
process which is at the root of the appreciation of all 
number relationships. It is not only as a mass that 
the group of pebbles represents the flock of sheep, but 
each pebble stands for a particular sheep, if both 
pebbles and sheep are arranged in order and no pebble 
or sheep is thought of more than once. The next step 
naturally follows as soon as this is recognized. Objects 
are not necessary for symbols. Words will accomplish 
the same purpose much more conveniently. A name 
is given to each position of the individual member of 
any group of objects when arranged in a series. Thus 
arose counting, which is merely placing each object 
over against the series of number names each of which 
stands for a definite place in the series. 

Counting implies considerable abstract thought, for 



298 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

it means that attention selects out the single aspect of 
order and disregards all the other characteristics of 
the objects. Accordingly, we find that some primitive 
tribes have not developed number names beyond three 
or four, and frequently are unable to grasp number 
relationships beyond this point. 

Advantage of Arabic system over Roman. — In 
counting more than ten on the fingers the same fingers 
must be used a second time, and it is natural to use 
them in the same order as in counting the first ten. 
Hence arises the conception of the second ten being 
merely a second group of the same sort as the first. 
The Arabic system takes ingenious advantage of this 
fact by giving to each position in the second series the 
same name and symbol as it has in the first series of 
ten and indicating the number of tens by placing two 
in front of the units number and so on for each suc- 
ceeding series of ten. The Roman system failed to 
obtain flexibility and ease of manipulation by reason 
of the absence of the zero in representing ten. 

The fundamental operations come from various 
methods of grouping. — Further manipulation of num- 
bers beyond this point in the form of the simple arith- 
metical processes takes place by grouping. Eight may 
be divided into two groups of seven and one, six and 
two, five and three, etc. If these groups are conceived 
as coming together we have the process of addition; 
if one of them is conceived as being split off from 
the main group we have the process of subtraction. 



ARITHMETIC 299 

In multiplication and division we are dealing with 
equal groups. If the equal groups are thought of as 
being placed together to form the main group we have 
multiplication; if they are thought of as successively 
split off from the main group we have division. Thus 
dealing with numbers becomes more and more abstract. 
Beginning with a definite reference to objects, a way 
of thinking has been reached that gives us a series of 
relationships which may be manipulated in thought 
in various ways without any reference to objects. 
Finally, in algebra a still more abstract system arises 
in which the symbols are even more general and do not 
stand for any definite order in the number series. 

Early number ideas of children. — What the race 
has achieved by a slow and gradual process the child 
now is able to acquire in a relatively short time, because 
it is handed down to him ready-made. The earliest 
beginnings of anything akin to number consciousness 
in the child come in connection with the recognition 
of gross differences of more or less which are based 
on the perception of size. The missing of one or more 
articles from a group by a child is, of course, no clear 
indication of a number consciousness, but it is the 
first vague beginning of an ability to remember and 
conceive in a quantitative way. Children who learn 
the number names used easily learn to repeat them 
from one to ten in a mechanical way, though at first 
with no suggestion that they can count in the true 
sense of the word. In their first attempts at counting 



300 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

children frequently point to the same object more than 
once, showing that the principle of serial arrangement 
is but vaguely apprehended. While in many cases 
children are able to count accurately on entering school, 
the statement is made that on the average six-year-old 
children do not comprehend beyond three or four. 

Usefulness of objective methods limited. — The 
natural procedure in further development of the child's 
ideas of number when he enters school is by perfecting 
his ability to count. The degree to which this as well 
as all other phases of arithmetical operations should be 
developed by means of objective methods of teaching 
will be determined by a correct understanding of the 
nature of the psychological principles of the number 
consciousness. As we have seen, numbers are concepts 
that to a peculiar degree are capable of being treated 
as if entirely independent of objects. On the other 
hand, like all concepts, they find their origin in the 
concrete experiences of life and find their application 
there. Accordingly, it is unnecessary to teach every 
arithmetical fact objectively. Only so much of objec- 
tive teaching is necessary as to develop correct concepts 
and to enable the child to make correct application to 
concrete objects. It is relatively easy, for example, 
for the average child who has noted objectively that 
5 and 3 are 8 to understand the import of 6 and 2 are 8. 

One form of objective teaching of number relations 
is that which cultivates the ability to recognize visually 
the number of objects in a group immediately and 



ARITHMETIC 301 

without counting. If, for example, dots are used as 
the objective material and these are arranged in similar 
groups, large numbers may be recognized at a glance 
after a little practice. Thus the following groups may 
be readily recognized immediately as representing 
twenty- two : 



The claim is made that children are more positive 
in their fundamental operations if this ability to grasp 
groups of counters visually presented has been de- 
veloped as sharply and completely as possible. The 
reason for this seems to be that such training aids in 
the thorough apprehension of the various grouping 
relationships, which, as we have seen, lie at the basis 
of the fundamental operations. 

Fundamentals must be made automatic through 
drill. — As long as the child has to resort to objective 
demonstrations of number relations, however, number 
remains a clumsy and ineffective device. The main 
aim in teaching children the fundamental operations 
of arithmetic is the formation of habits of unvaryingly 
accurate and immediate response to all of the forms 
in which numbers may be combined. This can be 
accomplished, as in the case of all habit, only by con- 
stant repetition or drill. If the drill can be relieved 
from monotony by variations of method, so much the 
better; but the repetition itself is essential. 



302 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

The art of calculation does not require that the 
reasons for each step be understood. — For a similar 
reason to that which makes too great an emphasis on 
objective teaching of arithmetic unwise, it is also un- 
wise to be too insistent that the child understand 
thoroughly the reasons for all the steps he takes in his 
various calculations. The dictum that a child should 
be taught to understand wherever possible does not 
mean that he must never be taught what he cannot 
understand. Probably a very small proportion of 
persons who are able to perform the steps of the 
process of subtraction understand thoroughly the 
reasons for the device of borrowing. To arrive at the 
result promptly and accurately is the essential thing. 
So true is this that it might almost be said that some 
children understand the arithmetical relationships too 
thoroughly. Brighter children frequently hit upon the 
device of getting at results in an indirect way. Certain 
of the number combinations, for reasons not well 
understood, are remembered less easily than others. 
Thus a child may know immediately that 8 X 8 == 64, 
but not what is the result of 8 X 9. Accordingly, if 
asked to multiply 9 by 8 he arrives at the result in- 
du-ectly, thus: 8 X 8 = 64; 64 + 8 = 72. Obviously, 
habits of this sort do not make for efficiency, but they 
frequently persist and are even resorted to in adult 
life. So, too, if it is known that 8 X 9 = 72, it is easy 
for the child to see that 9 X 8 = 72; but as long as 



ARITHMETIC 303 

the process of reversal is resorted to, the habit falls 
short of the perfection to be desired. 

Combinations need to be drilled in all their various 
forms. — The need for making every possible number 
combination in addition, subtraction, multiplication, 
and division carry with it an automatically correct 
response extends beyond the simple combinations to 
the various complex forms in which they may be pre- 
sented. Courtis has shown, for example, from the 
results of extensive tests, that single column addition 
of three figures each requires a difi"erent series of habits 
from those needed in adding thirteen figures to the 
column. Indeed, Courtis, on the basis of these tests, 
enumerates seven different forms that addition may 
take, three for subtraction, six for multiplication, and 
nine for division. Each of these complex typical forms 
needs to be drilled as if an entirely separate operation. 

Problem-solving involves deductive reasoning. — 
Problem-solving in mathematics affords the one ex- 
ample of purely deductive reasoning of the ordinary 
school. The value of training in the solution of prob- 
lems is, or should be, twofold. In the first place, ability 
to solve arithmetical problems through the process of 
reasoning is of practical value to the degree to which 
these problems are met with in life outside of the 
school. Such problems can be solved in a purely 
mechanical way without the proper understanding for 
the reasons underlying the various steps in the process. 
For example, the application of the principle of per- 



304 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

centage to interest, discount, etc., may be made through 
the use of memorized formulae the derivation of which 
is not understood. The person who solves problems 
by such merely mechanical methods is, however, at a 
disadvantage in a number of ways. He puts an undue 
burden on his memory which a resort to reasoning 
would make unnecessary. He runs the risk continually 
of mistaking the formula that should be applied to 
the particular instance at hand. Every one who has 
taught arithmetic to children has observed that this 
difficulty is a fundamental one. The slightest devia- 
tion from the usual form in which a particular kind 
of problem is put, even a slight difference in wording, 
brings fatal results. The great advantage of reasoning 
is that it enables the person to discard superficial dif- 
ferences and seize upon fundamental principles even 
when the data are novel. 

The purely deductive character of reasoning in arith- 
metic is seen from the fact that one problem thoroughly 
understood is of more value than piling up illustration 
after illustration without understanding. The latter 
method will indeed defeat its own end if it leads to 
the adoption of a mechanical form for solving such 
problems. 

The further advantage of training in the solution of 
problems in arithmetic is in the impetus it gives to 
correct thinking in general. After reading what has 
been said of transfer of training effects in a preceding 
chapter, it will be at once recognized that this state- 



.-^ITHMETIC 305 

ment must be made in a guarded way. In no other 
matters can we come to the same kind of precise and 
unshakable conclusions that we make in mathematics. 
In no other field is the reasoning of a purely deductive 
nature. But in solving problems in mathematics, more 
than at any other point in his elementary school work, 
the child comes to recognize the dependence of conclu- 
sions upon premises and the necessity of critically ex- 
amining both the correctness of the premise and the 
method of arriving at the conclusion. It cannot be 
doubted that this attitude of critical inquiry may and 
should be carried over to other subjects than arith- 
metic, even though it is true that in many instances 
this does not take place. 

Solving simple problems should be begun early. — 
The question of how early the child should be trained 
in solving problems has had varying answers both in 
practice and in theory. As we have already seen, 
there is no good ground for the view that reasoning 
is a capacity that the child acquires relatively late in 
life. The child before the age of entering school can 
reason in respect to things that come within the scope 
of his experience and that do not involve too long a 
series of steps. Undoubtedly there are very great 
individual differences among children, as among adults. 
Fundamentally, reasoning requires "sagacity," which 
seems to be largely a matter of inherited capacity. In 
general, one individual differs more from another in 
the more complex mental processes than the simpler. 



306 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

At the same time, there is little doubt that improve- 
ment in capacity for solving problems in arithmetic 
would take place if more stress were laid on this train- 
ing in the early grades by the use of simple material 
within the comprehension of the pupils. 

Investigation of children's ability to solve problems. 
— Bonser gave a test to 757 children in the fourth, 
fifth, and sixth grades in Passaic, New Jersey, Each 
of these problems required three steps: "First, the 
analysis of the situation by which the essential features 
of the problems are conceived and abstracted; second, 
the recall of an appropriate principle to be applied to 
the abstract problem, a search among various principles 
which may suggest themselves for the right one, and, 
third, involving the second, the inference, the recog- 
nition of identity between the known principle and 
the new situation." Table XIV gives the most general 
results of the tests in terms of the median ability of 
each grade for boys and girls: 





Table XIV 




Grades 


Boys 


Girls 


4A 


14.50 


11.36 


6B 


21.39 


15.66 


5A 


22.83 


19.00 


6B 


25.63 


24.08 


6A 


28.00 


25.92 



The capacity for solving problems clearly increases 
steadily from grade to grade. Bonser finds that the 
boys are superior to the girls in each grade, though the 
difference becomes increasingly smaller in the higher 



ARITHMETIC 307 

grades. The results also showed that three boys of 
grade 4A and nine boys and four girls of grade 5B had 
an ability to solve these problems equal to or greater 
than the median boy of grade 6A. 

References 

Freeman, F. N. The Psychology of the Common 
Branches. Chapter IX. (Houghton Mifflin, 1916.) 

JuDD, C. H. Genetic Psychology for Teachers. Chap- 
ter IX. (Appleton, 1903.) 

Starch, D. Educational Psychology. Chapter XX. 
(Macmillan, 1919.) 

SuzzALLO, H. The Teaching of Primary Arithmetic. 
(Houghton Mifflin, 1912.) 



CHAPTER XX 
CONCLUSION 

The aim of the foregoing chapters has been to show 
what that aspect of ourselves which we call mind is for, 
and especially to show how the answer to this question 
is related to the process of education. In this chapter 
the attempt will be made to sum up the conclusions 
arrived at and to consider the general significance of 
what has been learned. These conclusions have been 
implied in the earlier chapters, but may have been 
easily overlooked during the course of our study of 
details. 

Biological view of man. — Man can be best under- 
stood if considered as at one and the same time a 
part of, and apart from, the rest of nature. Biological 
science calls attention to the many resemblances be- 
tween the bodily structure and functions of human 
beings and those of the lower animals. A study of the 
behavior of the lower animals shows also that they 
are governed by the same general principles of action 
as in the case of man. But, while man's kinship with 
the lower animals cannot be questioned, and the sig- 
nificance of his life activities cannot be understood 
except in relationship to the doctrine of evolution, it 

30S 



CONCLUSION 309 

is a grave mistake to minimize the importance of the 
great gulf between man's nature and that of the most 
highly developed of the lower animals. In no respect 
are these differences more marked than in the various 
forms of learning that, taken together, form the means 
of education. 

Psychology a biological science. — Psychology, like 
biology, may adopt as its fundamental conception for 
the understanding of man that which regards him, like 
all other living organisms, subject to a constantly 
recurring series of changes due to the necessity of 
adaptation to environment. All animals, including 
man, are provided with structures and functions that 
make it possible for them to lead a more or less inde- 
pendent existence. If the environment is not suitable 
or is inimicable to their needs, they may so react on 
it as to change it in some cases, or in others to move 
away into more favorable surroundings. 

The biological mechanism for producing action. — 
There are three biological functions, which all animals 
possess, that are primarily responsible for the mutual 
action and reaction between living organisms and their 
environment — irritabiUty (sensitivity), conductivity, 
and contractility. While all of these functions are 
performed by the same cell in the lowest forms of life 
(the unicellular animals), in the case of all higher 
forms than these the cells are specialized. Those cells 
that are specialized to perform the function of irrita- 
bility are situated, for the most part, at or near the 



310 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

surface of the animars body. In higher forms of 
animals they take the form of special sense-organs and 
are differentiated so as to be affected each by a special 
form of environmental change — contact (touch), ether 
vibrations (vision), air vibrations (hearing), etc. 
Irritability is, then, that function by means of which 
environmental happenings affect living organisms. 
But the organism affected by an environmental hap- 
pening is not merely changed thereby — it reacts. The 
reaction is due to the functioning of the contractile 
cells, which, taken together, in the case of higher ani- 
mals constitute the muscular system. The contractile 
cells, except in the case of very low forms, can function 
only by virtue of their connection with irritable cells, 
made possible by the interposition between them of 
conductile cells. The conductile cells taken together 
form the nervous system, which is therefore a mech- 
anism for conducting the effects (nervous impulses) of 
environmental changes on the various sensory parts of 
the body to the muscles. The goal of the entire series 
of changes is, therefore, muscular action — not merely 
muscular action, but action that is made in response 
to what is happening in the environment, thus serving 
to adapt the animal to its environment. 

Consciousness an adaptive function. — Closely re- 
lated to the adaptive functions already mentioned is 
the function of consciousness, which appears as one of 
the links in the chain leading from impression to re- 
action. At just what point in the development of the 



CONCLUSION 311 

animal series from lower to higher forms this function 
of consciousness makes its appearance it is difl5cult to 
say, but in ourselves we have come to recognize it as 
the most significant aspect of our existence. It is true 
that certain adaptive reactions may take place, as in 
the case of reflex and automatic actions, by means of 
the mechanism already described — the sense-organs, 
nervous system, and muscles — without the presence 
of consciousness. Conscious adaptations, however, are 
so complex, the muscular reactions that follow them 
are so frequently delayed or overlooked, that our 
thoughts and feelings seem to have an importance as 
existences in themselves, apart from the role they play 
in relation to action. Whatever may be the truth as 
to the ultimate nature of mind is a problem that must 
be left to philosophy to settle. For our present pur- 
poses it must be regarded as a function of organisms, 
the purpose of which is to enable its possessor to 
adapt his behavior to environmental conditions on a 
higher plane or in a more effective fashion than would 
be possible without it. 

Non-conscious action not suitable to changing con- 
ditions. — The significance of consciousness may be 
understood by considering those cases of adaptive re- 
actions that take place unconsciously. The typical 
cases of such reactions are the reflexes. Take, for 
example, the well-known pupillary reflex — the widen- 
ing and contracting of the pupil of the eye in response 
to more or less light. Here is a mechanism clearly 



312 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

adaptive in its function which operates under proper 
environmental conditions independently of conscious- 
ness. One of the main characteristics of this reaction, 
and of all reflex action, is its invariableness. Given 
the proper stimulus, the reaction follows inevitably and 
in the same manner. 

Inadequacy of reflex action. — Animals low in the 
evolutionary scale exhibit a type of behavior that is 
almost purely reflex. Their life conditions are rela- 
tively simple and unchanging. It is conceivable that 
the higher forms of life might have been constructed 
on the same plan, with a purely reflex response to adapt 
them to every condition that the changing and com- 
plex environment would present; but such an animal 
would require a piling up of reflex mechanisms to a 
degree making the nervous systems of the higher forms 
of animal life so intricate and complex that such a 
method of adaptation is scarcely more than conceivable. 
Obviously, the more varied and complex the environ- 
mental conditions to which an animal must respond, 
and the more necessary it is to respond to the ever- 
recurrent changes of environmental conditions, the 
less suited is the invariable form of response for the 
purpose. 

Significance of the modification of instincts. — Ac- 
cordingly, we find a somewhat higher type of response 
added to the equipment of most forms of animals — 
the instinctive. While the instinctive reaction is 
closely allied to the reflex, it is more complex and, 



CONCLUSION 313 

especially important from the point of view of our 
study, it is more likely to become modified than is the 
reflex. While the instinctive reaction as such is in- 
variable, it may be gradually modified so as to conform 
to changes in environmental conditions. Here, then, 
we have the simplest form of learning, that is, the 
modification of existent forms of response so as to meet 
the requirements of life conditions different from those 
for which the instinctive responses were created. 

Instincts accompanied by simpler forms of con- 
sciousness. — The instincts are accompanied by a form 
of consciousness — the emotional — that seems primarily 
for the purpose of furnishing the "drive" or "urge" for 
the performance of the instinctive action as such ; but 
the more elementary feeling component of pleasure- 
pain which is also present, seems more closely related 
to the modification of the instinctive response. 

Trial-and-error learning as a form of conscious 
adaptation. — Even in low forms of animal life there 
is another kind of learning in addition to the modifica- 
tion of instincts. Most animals, when confronted with 
a situation that is strange and unfamiliar, that is, a 
situation for which the usual modes of response are 
not adequate, will behave in a way that is in strong 
contrast with the instinctive mode of response. In- 
stead of a clearly purposeful and related series of acts, 
as in the case of instinctive action, there is under such 
circumstances a large number of apparently useless 
and unrelated acts. By the trying out of these various 



314 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

acts one may be found that leads to a satisfactory 
result. A repetition of a similar unfamiliar situation 
calls forth similar "hit-or-miss" reactions; but each 
time the repetition takes place the successful action 
becomes more prominent and the unsuccessful tends 
to be eliminated. In time the response becomes im- 
mediate and definite, as in the case of the instinctive 
reaction. A habit has been formed by a process of 
"trial-and-error" learning, and the situation is no 
longer unfamiliar but one to which the animal has 
become adapted through experience. 

In human beings the trial-and-error form of learning 
is accompanied by that form of consciousness which 
we call perception and feelings of pleasure in the satis- 
factory result, and of displeasure in those actions the 
results of which are unsatisfactory. 

The role of consciousness in the foregoing forms of 
learning seems to be limited to the awareness of objects 
in the environment (perception), together with emo- 
tions and feelings that spur and restrain action. 
Something of the nature of memory must also be 
present, since the effects of one experience must be 
retained in order that modification or learning may 
take place. Psychology, however, prefers to reserve 
the word "memory" to designate those forms of reten- 
tion where there is a conscious recognition of the 
"pastness" of an experience, and in this sense memory 
is not a necessary accompaniment of the forms of 
learning thus far described. 



CONCLUSION 315 

Ideational learning is on a higher plane. — It is in 

the case of ideational learning, which involves all the 
higher forms of intellectual processes — memory, imag- 
ination, and thinking — that the role of consciousness 
becomes most prominent. While it is perhaps too 
extreme to say that man is the only animal whose 
behavior is governed by ideas, it is at least true that 
because of the extent to which man uses this type of 
learning there is a very great difference between his 
adaptive behavior and that of the lower animals. The 
development of consciousness reaches its highest sig- 
nificance in the intellectual life of human beings. 

Function of language. — Language is both a means 
of development of ideas and a means of conserving 
ideas and conveying them from one individual to 
another. It is only by this means that the progress 
of the human race has been preserved and accelerated. 
Each generation adds its quota of ideas to those of 
preceding generations and hands them down to the 
next generation by means of language. The period 
of education is the period during which the youth of 
one generation is acquiring the most fundamental ideas 
of the past. These ideas have gradually been arranged 
and systematized into subjects of study. 

Evidence remains that there existed on the earth 
many thousands of years ago human beings whose 
physical development was fully equal to that of the 
best developed races of to-day. Furthermore, as far 
as can be told from the shape and size of the skull, 



316 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL 

the mental capacity of some of these races must have 
been equal to that of people of to-day. If, therefore, 
progress has taken place during the intervening time, 
it is not because people differ fundamentally from 
those of the earlier period, but simply because each 
generation has been able to acquire the achievements 
of past generations and build on these foundations. 
Thus, by a process that has been aptly called social 
heredity, man preserves the learning of the past and is 
able to build upon this foundation for the future. 

The meaning of infancy. — Education, therefore, 
becomes a necessity both for the individual and for 
society. Primitive society, with its relatively small 
stock of ideas and accomplishments, can afford to 
educate the young by the more informal means of 
imitation and direct oral instruction of parents and 
children. But as society and its institutions and activi- 
ties become more complex, organized means of in- 
struction become necessary, and hence arise institutions 
for the formal instruction of the young. During this 
period the young must remain in a state of infancy, 
that is, of economic dependence con the parent. As 
Butler has said, in summarizing Fiske's "Meaning of 
Infancy" : 

The entire educational period after the physical 
adjustment has been made, after the child can walk 
alone, can feed itself, can use its hands, and has, there- 
fore, acquired physical and bodily independence, is an 
adjustment to what may be called our spiritual environ- 



CONCLUSION 317 

ment. After the physical adjustment is reasonably 
complete, there remains yet to be accomplished the 
building of harmonious and reciprocal relations with 
those great acquisitions of the race that constitute 
civilization; and therefore the lengthening period of 
infancy simply means that we are spending nearly half 
of the life of each generation in order to develop in 
the young some conception of the vast acquirements 
of the historic past and some mastery of the conditions 
of the immediate present. 



APPENDIX 

The material of this Appendix is presented to the 
student for the purpose of giving him a clearer under- 
standing of the nature of various forms of tests. It 
consists of (a) A general intelligence test; (b) A 
standardized silent reading test, and (c) A standardized 
arithmetic test. Taken together these tests constitute 
the so-called Illinois Examination, devised by the 
Bureau of Educational Research of the University of 
Illinois and given extensively to pupils of public 
schools in Illinois and elsewhere. The forms of the 
tests presented here are used for grades VI, VII, and 
VIII. Other forms have been devised for grades III, 
IV, and V. Copies of the tests and a handbook of 
directions for giving and scoring the tests, etc., may 
be purchased from the Public School Publishing Co., 
Bloomington, 111. 



319 



lUintiia £xamuiation II 
For Grades 6, 7. and 8 

UNIVERSITY OF ILUNOIS 

Urbana, Illinois 
BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 

General Intelligence, Operations 
of Arithmetic and SOent Reading 

Name _ Boy or Girl.. 

Age last birthday _ Next birthday will be 

Grade _... Date _ _ City State 

School _ Teacher 



Form 1 
Second Edition, 
September 1920 



WRITE PUPIL'S SCORES HERE 



General 
Intelligence 


Operations of 
Arithmetic 


ChronoloKical Age 


Test 


Score 


Test 


Score 


Silent Reading 


1 




2 






Score 


A. A.. 


A. Q. 


4 — 

S..— „. 


«"".——•. 


Rate 

Comp 

Av 








3 

4 „ 

5 ; 


_.. 


erage 








6 _.... 




6 






Total 





7..„ 


16 




Total.. 






Mental 
Age 




Achieve- 
ment 
Aee 






T. Q. 




A. Q. 













General Directions 

This booklet contains a number of tests. You wrll be shown them one at, a time 
and will finish each one before you see the next one. Read the directions for each 
carefully and when the signal to begin is given turn the page and do the tests as 
rapidly as you can but remember that it is important to get them right. 

Do not turn a page until you are to ld to do so. 

Directions for Test No. 1 — ^ANALOGIES 

Look at this line: (a) sky, blue, grass— table, green , warm, big. 

• Notice the four words in heavy type. One of them — green — has a line drawn 
under it. Grass is green just as the sky is blue. 

Look at line (b) below: A fish swims and a man does what? Draw a line under, 
the one word of the four in heavy type which tells what^a man does. 

Now look at line (c). Night means the opposite of day. What word means t,he 
opposite of white? Draw a line under it. 

(b) fish— swims ::man— paper time walks girl 

(c) day — night:: white— red black clear pure 

On the next sheet are some exercises like these. The first two words in each 
line are related to each other in some way. Dfaw a line under the word in heavy type 
that is related in the same way to the third word. Begin with the first line and do as 
many as you can before time is called. Only one word in each line is to be marked. 

CopxJ^ight 1920 by Walter S. Monroe aiid B. R. Buckingham 



320 



Te«t No. 1— ANALOGIES 

No. Right 

1 eat — bread : : drinT< — water iron lead stones 1 

2 finger — hand:: toe — box foot doll coat «.. 2 

3 shoe — foot : : hat — kitten head knife penny 3 

4 dress — women :: feathers — bird neck feet bill ,...., 4 

5 dog — puppy:: cat — kitten dog tiger house 5 

6 sit — chair : : sleep — book tree bed see 6 

7 foot — man:: hoof — corn tree cow hoe 7 

8 handle — hammer:: knob — key room shut door 8 

9 chew — teeth:: smell — sweet stink odor nose 9 

10 bird — song : : man — speech woman boy work 10 

11 sailor — navy :: soldier — gun private army fight II 

12 legs — frog : : wings — eat swim bird nest 12 

13 man — home:: bird' — fly insect worm nest 13 

14 camp — safe:: battle — win dangerous field fight 14 

15 water — fish:: air — spark man blame sleep 15 

16 pan — tin : : table — chair wood legs dishes 16 

17 tiger — wild;: cat — dog mouse tame pig 17 

'18 hospital — patient : : prison — cell criminal bar jail 18 

,19 floor — ceiling: : ground — earth sky hill grass 19 

20 feather — float : : rock — ages hill sink break 20 

21 airplane — air: : submarine — dive engine ship water 21 

22 cold — heat:: ice — steam cream frost refrigerator 22 

23 framework — house : : skeleton — bones skull grace body 23 

24 carpenter — house:: shoemaker — hatmaker wax shoe awl 24 

25 pretty — ugly :: attract — fine repel nice draw 25 

26 hour — day : : day — night week hour noon 26 

27 clothes — man : : hair — horse comb beard hat 27 

28 darkness — stillness :: light — moonlight sound sun window 28 

29 blow — anger : : caress — woman kiss child love 29 

30 imitate — copy:: invent — study Edison machine originate 30 

Directions for Test No. 2— ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS 

On the next sheet there are a number of Arithmetic problems. Get the 
answers to them as quickly as you can. Write each answer after the word 
"answer," as in the problem below. 

Mary had 5 apples and gave two to her brother. 

How many had she left? Answer ( 3 ) 



321 



Test No. 2~ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS 

No. Right — , — 1_...., 

1 If one boy has 10 fingers, how many fingers have 
six boys ? Answer 

2 There are 15 children in our class. 5 of them are boys. 
Kow many are girls? Answer 

3 We learn 2 words a day in our class. 
How many do we learn in 8 days? Answer 

4 Jack is 42 inches tall and Fred iS 5 itiches taller. 
How tall is Fred ? Answer 

5 Mr. Gray sold ten bags of flour last Saturday at 2 dollars a bag. 
How many dollars did he get for the flour? Answer 

6 Anna, Lizzie, Sarah, and Carrie shared 20 plums equally. 
How many plums did each get? Answer 

7 After giving 9 cents for some candy, Helen had 2 dimes 
remaining. How many cents did she have at first? Answer 

8 A baseball team took 12 players on a trip. The trip cost the 
team $36. How much was that for each player? Answer 

9 At the rate of a mile in two minutes, it takes 30 minutes to run 
from one station to another; How many miles apart are the 
stations? Answer 

10 Ned sold his rabbit for 30 cents. This was 3/5 of what he paid. 
What did he pay for the rabbit? Answer 

11 In a trolley car there were 29 people. At the first stop 8 got 
off and five got on ; at the second stop 13 got off and ten got on. 
How many were in the car then? Answer 

12 How many cakes at seven for 10 cents can I buy with half 
a dollar ? Answer 

13 Albert had $1.50. He spent 1/5 of it for a bat. 
How much money had he left? Answer 

14 Oil was bought for 10c a gallon and sold for 3c a quart. 
Find the gain on 32 gallons . . . . : Answer 

15 Books were marked $1 each. Later the price was reduced 30 
cents. Find the cost of 5 books at the reduced price Answer 

16 A merchant buys J^ dozen handsaws at $16 a dozen. How 
much must be receive for the lot in order to gain fifty cents 
apiece? Answer 

Directions for Test No. 3— SENTENCE VOCABULARY 

Look at this exercise : 

Apples grow on vines roots grass trees. 

The right word is trees because it makes the truest sentence. 

In each of the exercises below you have four choices for the last word. 
Only one of them is correct. In each sentence draw a line under the one of 
these four words which makes the truest sentence. 

People can see through wood stone glass iron. 
The ear is a part of the legs arms head feet. 
Deserts are crossed by iorses miiles camels elephants. 

On the next sheet are a number of exercises like these. Begin with the 
first and do as many as you can in the time allowed. 

322 



Test No. 3— SENTENCE VOCABULARY 

No. Rjght 

1. A gown is a string animal dress plant. 

2 Haste is hurry red little sweet. 

3 To tap is to run fall knock smile. 

4 A dungeon is open bright heavy dark. 

5 Majesty refers to dresses kings countries climates. 

6 Nerves are found in the ground sky skin hair. 

7 Plumbing is made of rubber glass fruit pipes. 

8 A man is afloat in a mine tower boat hospital. 

9 Pork comes from pigs sheep cows calves 

10 A guitar is used to make toys glass music furniture. 

11 A reception is a show party game sleep. 

12 To snip is to cut sew paste tie. 

13 Staves are used in scales barrels painting golf. 

14 To regard is to magnify neglect understand consider. 

15 Skill is keenness anger grief expertness. 

16 Disproportionate amounts are rough unequal fair equal 

17 Mars is a planet country goddess actor. 

18 A selectman is a confederate officer conspirator lawyer. 

19 Coinage refers to seignior bonds currency coincidence. 

20 A forfeit is a penalty gift valley find. 

21 To bewail is to applaud lament beware laugh. 

22 A fen is a upland bushland waste marsh. 

23 To tolerate is to tax multiply record permit. 

24 To be sapient is to be savory wise sardonic questionable. 

25 A milksop is a flirt pudding prude mollycoddle. 

26 The lotus is a lout poison water-lily bird. 

27 To drabble is to soil excite crowd twaddle. 

28 Ochre is a nostrum pigment stone monster. 

29 Ambergris is used in candles fishing medicine perfumery. 

30 A harpy is a hobby monster litany harpist. 

Directions for Test No. 4 — SUBSTITUTION 

Look at the sign and figure in each of the following circles: 

!) © © (D C5_ 

(aj\xn r^J lam I I /'CJ \/i\r\x\ I \1 

Under the circles are some exercises liaving the same signs. Look at the 
exercise (a). Find the circle in which this sign is printed. The figure 3 is 
in the same circle. This means that the sign in exercise (a) stands for 3. 
Write the figure 3 in the square next to the sign to which it belongs. — Look 
at exercise (b) There are two signs in this exercise. Find the figure which 
is in the same circle with the first sign. Write this figure in the first blank 
square. — Do the same for the second sign. — Look at exercise (c). Write the 
figures for these signs in the three blank squares. Write them in the order 
that the signs come. 

On the next sheet are some different signs in circles and below the circles 
these signs are again printed. Write after each sign or group of signs the 
figures which belong to the signs. Look back at the circles as often as you 
need to. You can work faster after you have learned the figure that goes 
with each sign. Begin with the iirst sign and write as many numbers as you 
<^o io the time allowed. 

323 



Teat No. 4— SUBSTITUTION 



© ® 



3 




J 




J 




1 




J 




1 




J 




1 




3 




7 





3 


7 






7 


1 






J 


J 






7 


3 






7 


J 






J 


7 






3 


d 






1 


3 






J 


7 






J 


3 







No. Right. — ..- 



'4=, 



J 


7 


7 








3 


3 


7 








3 


3 


^ 








1 


3 


jy 








7 


3 


i^ 








3 


3 


7 








3 


3 


7 








3 


7 


5 








3 


3 


5 








7 


7 


7 









7 


_y 


^ 


-7 












^ 


7 


7 


^ 


7 












d 


7 


7 


d 










7 


3 


7 


3 


3 












7 


7 


7 


3 










7 


7 


S 


3 


7 












3^ 


z/ 


7 


3 










^ 


7 


T' 


7 


7 












7 


.7 


7 


7 










^ 


7 


7 


^ 


^ 












^ 


7 


7 


7 










7 


7 


^ 


7^ 


7 












J 


3 


3 


7 










3 


3 


7 


3 


3 












3 


7 


7 


jiy 










3 


1 


7 


7 


3 












7 


7 


7 


_7 










3 


3 


7 


7 


J 












7 


7 


3 


7 










3 


3 


7 


3 


7 













Directions for Test No. 5— VERBAL INGENUITY 

Look at line (a) below. The words of this line are "see a I man on." 
In this order the words do not make sense but they can be made into a sen- 
tence if you leave out one word. The sentence is "I see a man." The word 
to be left out is on. Draw a line through it. In each of the other lines when 
one word is crossed out, the remaining words can be made into a true sen- 
tence. Cross out the extra word in each line. 

(a) see a I man on. 

(b) knife chair the sharp is. 

(c) John broken window trees has the. 

On the next sheet there are a number of exercises just like these. Cross 
out the extra word in as many of the exercises as you can. Remember that 
only one word in each line is to be crossed put 



324 



Tat No. 5— VERBAL INGENUITY 

No. RJKht -. 

1 the cat at see. 

2 boy was sky the sick. 

3 Bread sweep will the kitchen 1. 

4 are going yesterday to-morrow we 

5 tne mine give my straw hat. 

6 brown the horse come is. 

7 my suit dollars wear twenty cost new. 

8 know ice big boys how skate to. 

9 their soldiers for fight gun country. 

10 teacher me from gave a pencil my. 

11 brother lamp is my than I older much. 

12 dusty road the is hot and miles. 

13 in the chalk he brightest is boy class oufi 

14 house hard to is climb very the hill. 

15 broke his robin the flew little poor wing. 

16 gave me candy brother my of knife a box. 

17 the flood roaring valley came bridge the down. 

18 the song birds flown during the to have south. 

19 boy gold watch brightest over get the v*ill a. 

20 I not Monday do to bag like go to school on. 

21 watch summer fhe man stole is jail who the in. 

22 old back only the chair legs has three> 

23 told girl I I the to would her with home walk, 

24 man whom the hat saw is you uncle my me with. 

25 do not boy the 1 like who me school in sits desk behind. 



DirecUons for Test No. 6— ARITHMETICAL INGENUITY 

Look at line (a) below. The numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12 count up by 
two's except tlic number 9. It is the number which does not fit in this group 
Cross it out. In each of th^ other lines there is one number that does not fit. 
Find this number and cross it out. 

(a) 2 4 6 8 9 10 12: 

(b) 7 6 5 1 4 3 2 

(c) 1 2 4 8 16 17 

(d) 1> 3 5 7 2 9 11 

On the next page there are a number of exercises just like these.- Do 
as many as you can in the time allowed. Remember that only one number 
in each line is to be crossed out. 



325 



Test No. 6 — ARITHMETICAL INGENUITY 

No. Right 



(1) 


12 3 9 4 5 


(2) 


2 4 6 7 8 


(3) 


9 8 7 6 5 2 


(4) 


11 10 8 6 4 2 


(5) 


5 7 10 15 20 25 


(6) 


3 6 9 11 12 15 


(7) 


19 18 17 16 13 15 14 


(8) 


4 8 12 14 16 20 24 


(9) 


16 8 4 3 2 


(10) 


2 4 8 16 24 


(11) 


27 24 21 19 18 15 12 


(12) 


1 3 5 7 9 10 11 


(13) 


2 4 8 10 16 32 


(14) 


4 9 14 19 24 29 33 


(15) 


2 3 6 12 24 


(16) 


21 17 13 9 5 3 1 


(17) 


36 18 9 3 


(18) 


1 5 9 11 13 17 


(19) 


1 3 9 18 27 



(20) 27 22 17 14 12 7 

(21) 3 9 27 54 81 

(22) 72 36 18 9 6 

(23) 84 77 70 65 63 56 

(24) 3 9 15 21 24 27 

(25) 3 6 9 12 24 48 



Directions for Test No. 7— SYNONYM-ANTONYM 

Look at these exercises: 

(a) good — bad same opposite 

(b) little — small same opposite 

(c) rich — poor same opposite 

In exercise (a) good means the opposite of bad. This is shown by a line 
drawn under the word opposite. In exercise (b) little means the same as 
small. Would you draw a line under same or opposite? You would draw it 
under same. In exercise (c) do rich and poor mean the same or opposite? 
Draw a line under same or opposite to show your answer. 

On the next sheet there are a number of exercises like the ones you have 
just done. If the words of a pair mean the same or nearly the same, draw a 
line under same. If they mean the opposite or nearly the opposite draw a 
line under opposite. Remember you are to draw a line under only one word 
in each line. 

326 



T«rt No. 7— SYNONYM-ANTONYM 

No. RiRht _ 
No. Wrong 

Difference .. 

1 high — low ..^. same — opposite I 

2 go — leave ...•....,. ...» same — opposite 2 

3 large — great .same — opposite 3 

4 bitter — sweet same — opposite 4 

5 begin — commence,,..., same — opposite 5 

6 accept — take .si»..same — opposite 6 

7 find — lose ^..same — opposite 7 

8 expand — contract same — opposite 8 

9 shrill — sharp same — opposite 9 

10 fault — virtue same — opposite 10 

11 
12 



command — obey ...same — opposite 11 

tease — plague . same — opposite 12 

13 similar — different. same — opposite 13 

14 delicate — tender ......... .same — opposite 14 

15 careless — anxious -..same — opposite 15 

16 diligent — industrious -.-.. ..same — opposite 16 

17 masculine — feminine same — opposite 17 

18 concede — deny same — opposite 18 

19 linger — loiter .j.,..same — opposite 19 

20 accept — reject , same — opposite 20 

21 vanity — conceit same — opposite 21 

22 appeal — beseech same — opposite 22 

23 docile — refractory same — opposite 23 

24 knave — villain same — opposite 24 

25 confer — grant , . .^.. .„ ,^,.same — opposite 25 

26 acquire — lose ....same — opposite 26 

27 compute — calculate same — opposite 27 

28 repress — restrain ....,,.. .same — opposite 28 

29 depressed — elated same — opposite 29 

.30 hoax — deception ...same — opposite 30 

31 reverence — veneration .....same — opposite 

32 vilify — praise same — opposite 

33 accumulate — dissipate same — opposite 

34 apathy — indifference ......same — opposite 

35 contradict — corroborate . . .same — opposite 

36 comprehensive — restricted. . same — opposite 

37 assiduous — diligent same — opposite 

38 amenable — tractable ...... same — opposite 

39 suavity— asperity same — opposite 

40 encomium — eulogy same — opposite 



31 
32 
33 
34 
35 

36 
37 
38 
39 
40 



327 



Test II Rate .._ _ + 17 = 

Form 1 

Comorehensiori' + , 4 = ___.^.^ 

MONROE'S STANDARDIZED SILENT READING TEST 

Second Edition, September, 1920 

FOR 

Grades 6, 7 and 8 



Below there are three exercises. Under each exercise there is a row of 
words printed in bold faced type. Each exercise asks a question. You are 
to read each exercise and then answer the question by drawing a line under 
the right word printed in the black type. 

Read the following exercises: 

(a) I am a little dark-skinned girl. I wear a slip of brown buckskirt 
and a pair of soft moccasins. I live in a wigwam. What kind of a girl do 
you think I am? 

Chinese French Indian African Eskimo 
The answer to this exercise is "Indian," so draw a line under Indian. 

(b) Spring is the time for planting seeds. They grow fastest in sum- 
mer. Autumn is the harvest time. When are seeds put into the ground? 

Spring Svmimer Autumn Winter 

The answer to this exercise is "Spring." Draw a line under Spring. 

(c) In the sunny land of France there lived a sweet, little maid named 
Piccola. Piccola's father was dead, a-nd her mother was very poor. Draw a 
line under the word below that tells in what country Piccola lived. 

Germany Russia France England 

On the three following sheets there are a number of exercises like these 
to be read and answered. When the signal is given, turn over this page and 
begin. Work rapidly but remember that your answers must be right in order 
to count. Remember that you are to draw a line under only one word in. 
each exercise. 



328 



1. It was the garden-land of Antioch. Even the hedges, be- 

9 sides the lure of shade, offered passers-by sweet promises of wine 

20 and clusters of purple grapes. Over melon patches, and through 

30 apricot and fig tree groves, and groves of oranges and limes, the 

42 whitewashed houses of the farmers were seen. 

49 What kLnd of land was this? 

55 barren hilly productive infertile desert 

60 2. It .was cold, bleak, biting weather; foggy withal; and he 

70 could hear the people in the court outside go wheezing up and 

S2 <lovvn, beating their hands upon their breasts and stamping their 

92 feet upon the pavement-stones to warm them. 

99 What kind of picture does this paragraph describe? 

107 comfortable luxurious cheerless pleasant exciting 

112 3. "I," said the duck, "I call it fun, 

120 For I have my little red rubbers on. 

128 They make a cunning three-toed track 

134 In the soft, cool mud. Quack I quack 1" 

141 Draw a line under the word which tells- what the duck likes. 

153 snow sunshine rain wind ice 

158 4 The dog lay down. The rooster few to the top of a tree 

171 and the cat climbed to one of the branches. Before they went to 

184 sleep the rooster saw a light in the forest. He called to his friends. 

198 Where was the light the rooster saw? 

205 sky house barn wagon forest 

210 5 Shut in from the world without 

216 We sat the clean-winged hearth about, 

222 Content to let the north wind roar 

229 In baftkd rage at pane and door. 

236 While the red logs before us beat 

243 The frost back with tropic heat. 

249 Draw a line under the word which best describes these people. 

260 frightened cold contented hungry gloomy 

265 6 O suns and skies and clouds of June, 

273 And flowers of June together, 

278 You can not rival for one hour 

28S . October's bright blue weather. 

289 Which month does this stanza say is the more pleasant? 

299 April September June May October 

(Turn to next page.) 

329 



304 7. Her couch was dressed here and there with some winter 

314 berries and green leaves, gathered in a spot she had been used to 

Z27 favor. "When I die, put near me something that has loved the 

339 light, and had the sky above it always." 

347 What had the girl loved most? 

353 pretty clothes nature money candy to play 



360 8. The boy stood on the burning deck, 

367 Whence all but he had fled; 

373 The flame that lit the battle's wreck, 

380 Shone round him o'er the dead; 

386 Yet beautiful and bright he stood, 

392 As born to rule the storm, 

398 What word best describes the boy? 

404 cowardly mischievous brave young good 



409 9. At every turn the maples burn, 

415 The quail is whistling free. 

420 The partridge whirrs and the frosted burrs 

427 Are dropping for you and me. 

433 What season of the year does the stanza tell about? Draw a 
445 line under the one you think. 

451 spring summer autumn winter 



455 10. Aladdin's uncle said: "I will take a shop and furnish it 

466 for you." Aladdin was delighted with the idea, for he thought 

477 there was very little work in keeping a shop. He liked that bet- 

489 ter than anything else. 

493 What kind of a boy was Aladdin? 

500 industrious ambitious active lazy honest 



505 11. The caravan, stretched out upon the desert, was very pic- 

514 turesque ; in motion, however, it was like a lazy serpent. By and 

526 by its stubborn dragging became intolerably irksome to Balthasar, 

535 patient as he was. 

539 Place a line under the word which tells in what respect the 

551 caravan resembled a serpent. 

555 temper color length motion size 

(Turn to next page.) 

330 



560 12. He was lying alone, one sunny spring day, on a mossy 

571 ba.nk beside the clear stream flowing past with steady, ceaseless 

581 motion. He had his book open in his hand, but he was not reading. 

595 Draw a line under the word which tells why he was not read- 

607 ing. 

60K frightened asleep hungry cold unhappy 



613 13. As a race, the Indians have withered from the land. Their 

624 arrows are broken, their council-fire has long since gone out on the 

636 shore, and their war cry is fading to the untrodden West. Slowly 

648 and sadly they climb the distant mountains, and read their doom in 

660 the setting sun. 

663 How do the Indians feel? 

668 happy angry excited sad tired 



673 14. In front the purple mountains were rising up, a distant 

683 wall. Cool snow gleamed upon the summits. Our horses suffered 

693 bitterly for water. Five hours we had ridden through all that arid' 

705 waste without a pause. 

709 What kind of a country had these people been riding through? 

720 mountainous swampy desert forest valley 



725 15. Tracking was very difficult. As there was total absence of 

735 rain, it was next to impossible to distinguish the tracks of two- 

746 days' date from those most recent upon the hard and-parched soil. 

758 Draw a line under the word below that tells what it was thai 

771 made tracking difficult 

774 mud snow drouth rocks grass 



779 16. The soldier crawled out of the trench, where he had spent' 

790 the night. He was covered with mud from head to foot, and al- 

802 giost frozen. He looked around at his companions. What a mis- 

812 eV^ble lot they were! , 

816 How did the soldier feel"? 

821 happy patriotic brave angry downhearted 

826 

331 



Test No. 1~ADDITI0N 

No. RiKht 



7862 


6809 


8941 


5917 


6772 


7864 


1249 


5013 


7623 


7910 


4814 


6028 


7883 


8975 


1761 


5299 


9845 


9007 


6535 


8240 


9005 


5872 


6601 


8522 


6975 


2340 


9869 


1573 


3739 


3496 


1046 


1227 


2319 


6794 


3203 


8758 


2462 


1247 


4319 


6794 


3293 


7917 


2350 


9869 


3573 


2358 


5420 


7805 


4304 


3197 


4572 


1081 


5795 


4570 


7642 


9027 


2338 


6420 


7805 


4314 


8028 


7803 


9975 


5917 


6772 


9864 


1249 


8758 


2462 


1247 



Test No. 2— MULTIPUCATION 

No. RiRht 



4857 5718 6942 4065 
36 92 58 47 



9625 6123 7486 9027 
23 64 75 89 



1253 5376 3786 5492 
38 '76 49 53 



8246 STSD 7593 
29 85 64 



332 



T«t No. 3— DIVISION 

No. Richt 

41)574 79)36893 32)384 58)27608 



84)1932 98)46844 21)966 68)31824 



42)546 96)56064 73)6278 28)21980 



52)624 89)25365 23)713 76)36708 



31)2263 48)32304 51)918 67)39932 



333 



Tert No. 4— SUBTRACTION 











No. Right _ 




739 
367 


1852 
948 


975 

906 


1087 
821 


516 
239 


962 
325 


508 

447 


1371 
843 


1284 
966 


730 
508 


1853 
162 


897 
258 


1910 
361 


735 

478 


1056 
591 


877 
618 


1190 
739 


619 
257 


831 
860 


954 

483 


1077 
704 


1328 

872 


939 
654 


1316 

827 



Test No. 5— ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION OF FRACTIONS 

No. Right ^ X 2 = ._ 



11 3 2 13 

_ + . - + - 

6 3 4 5 6 5 



12 5 2 .21 

2 7. 9 3 3 2 



3 1 3 1 3 1 

5 2 4 3 4 2 



2 3 12 3 2 

3 5 2 3 4 7 



4 7 5 3 4 3 

5 10 6 5 7 5 

334 



Test No. 6— MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION OF FRACTIONS 

No. Right X 2 = 

2 3 4 2 5 3 

3 4 7 3 12 S "^ 



5 5 13 7 4 

6 8 3 8 12 ' 9 



2 3 2 8 7 4 

— X — = __H — — — X — 

5 4 3 9 12 7 



4 8 11 11 

7 11 3 2 4 6 



4 5 2 3 13 

15 8 5 7 6 10 



Test No. 7— DECIMAL FRACTIONS 

No. Right .... 



.03)16.2 Ans.: 54 .07)1.82 Ans.:-26 .05).415 Ans. : 83 

.06)7.44 Ans.: 124 .08).952 Ans.: 119 .04)87.6 Ans.: 219 

.02). 144 Ans.: 72 .08)40.8 Ans.: 51 .09)3.42 Ans.: 38 

.03)47.4 Ans.: 158 .07)8.61 Ans.: 123 .05).%5 Ans.: 193 

.09)5.76 Ans.: 64" .04).348 -Ans.r87 .06)51.0 Ans.: 85 

02).748 Ans.: 374 .03)89.1 Ans.: 297 .05)6.85 Ans.: 137 

,09)94.5 Ans.- 105 .01)5.48 Ans.: 548 .06):288 Ans.: 48 

04)9.84 Ans.: 246 .07) .238 Anj.: 34 .08)44.8 Ans.: 56 

335 



INDEX 



Abstraction, 128, 295 flf. 

Adolescence, 56, 252, 254, 258. 

After-image, 75 ff. 

Age, Mental, 233 ff. 

Analysis, 11, 67, 92, 127, 128, 202. 

Angell, J. R., 16, 21, 22, 31, 40, 

64, 85, 126, 138, 177, 192. 
Apperception, 103. 
Arithmetic, Chapt. 19, 332 ff. 
Association, 111 ff., 116, 147, 207 

ff., 215, 217, 271. 
Association areas, 32, 33, 215. 
Attention, 60 ff., 160 ff., 251, 259 

ff. 
Attitude, Chapt. 10, 183. 
Automatic action, 42. 

Bagley, W. C, 16, 138, 251, 261, 

263. 
Baldwin, B. T., 249. 
Basal ganglia, 21, 28, 29. 
Behavior, 4 ff., 9, 17, 39, 41 ff. 
Biology, 4. 
Blind-spot, 90. 
Bonser, F. G., 306. 
Bronner, A. F., 244. 
Brown, H. A., 237. 
Bryan and Harter, 202 ff. 
Burk, F., 257. 
Butler, N., 316. 

Cerebellum, 18, 19, 20. 
Cerebrum, 18, 19, 35, 36. 
Chadsey, C. E., vii. 
Child psychology, 10. 
Choice, 184 ff. 
Color, 72 ff. 

Colyin, S. S., 16, 64, 105. 
Collections, 257. 
Conception, Chapt. 7. 



Conductivity, 5, 309. 
Consciousness, 3, 6, 40, 42, 58, 

180, 183, 310 ff. 
Constructiveness, 56 ff. 
Contractility, 5, 309. 
Cook and O'Shea, 284. 
Corman. 

Corpora quadrigemina, 18, 19, 20. 
Cortex, 24, 30, 39. 
Counting, 296 ff. 
Crus, 18, 19, 20. 
Culture epoch, 250 ff. 
Curiosity, 51 ff. 

Dearborn, W. F. 

Deduction, 146 ff. 

Deliberation, 186 ff. 

Desire, 187 ff. 

Development, Bodily, 247. 

Development, Mental, Chapt. 15. 

Dewey, .!., 138, 141, 150, 159. 

Discipline, 226. 

Distribution, Curve of, 230 ff., 

276. 
Distribution of learning periods, 

211 ff. 
Drill, 62, 207 ff., 283, 301, 303. 

Education, 13, 39, 40. 
Emotion, 114, 171 ff., 179. 
Environment, 3 ff., 13 ff., 66, 310 

ff. 
Explanation, 11 ff. 
Eye-movements, 267 ff. 

Fear, 49 ff. 

Feeling, 48, 171 ff., 179. 
Formal tiaining, Chapt. 13. 
Freeman, F. N., 40, 150, 228, 244, 

276, 291, 294, 307. 
Frequency, 113, 207 ff. 



337 



338 



INDEX 



Gestures, 153 ff. 
Gray matter, 24, 26. 
Gustatory sense, 72 ff. 

Habit, 58 ff., 98 ff., 193. 
Hall, G. S., 105, 251. 
Hearing, 78 ff. 
Henmon, V. A. C, 241. 
Hypnosis, 135 ff. 

Idea, 179 ff., 202 ff., 315. 

Ideals, 188. 

Ideo-motor, 181 ff. 

Illusion, 87 ff., 100 ff., 196 ff., 

226 ff. 
Image, 107 ff., 130, 229. 
Imagination, 104, Chapt. 6, 139, 

144 ff. 
Imitation, 52 ff, 157. 
Individual differences, 118 ff, 

Chapt. 14, 273 ff, 281. 
Induction, 146 ff. 
Infancy, 37, 38, 316. 
Inhibition, 180 ff., 189, 
Instinct, 44 ff., 156, 313. 
Intelligence, 35, 36, 38, 232 ff., 

320 ff. 
Intelligence quotient, 234. 
Interest, 166 ff., 251. 
Introspection, 9, 15, 
Involuntary action, 42, 178 ff., 

185 ff. 

James, W., 40, 62, 63, 64, 150, 

184, 220 ff. 
Judd, C. H., vii, 23, 40, 64, 67, 69, 

79, 85, 100, 105, 125, 138, 159, 
177, 194, 227, 228, 263, 271, 
275, 277, 307. 

Kirkpatrick, E. A., 253 ff., 262. 
Klapper, P., 277. 
Kruse, C. F., vii. 

Language, 119, 128, 131, Chapt. 

9, 315 ff. 
Learning, 110, 172, Chapt. 12, 

313 ff. 
Learning curve, 196 ff. 

MacDougall, W., 40. 
Meaning, 89, 91, 127 ff., 272. 



Medulla, 18, 19, 20. 

Memory, Chapt. 6, 135, 139, 209, 

ff., 220, 261 ff., 314. 
Mental processes, 3, 7, 8. 
Mental set, 114 ff. 
Meumann, E., 106, 126, 222 ff., 

259, 
Monroe, W. S., 239, 274. 
Motor areas, 31, 32. 
Muscular sensations, 84 ff. 

Natural signs, 152 ff. 
Nervous impulse, 18, 
Nervous System, Chapt. 2. 
Neurone, 22, 23, 24, 37, 59. 
Number form, 121. 

Observation, 169 ff., 197 ff., 280. 
Olfactory sense, 82 ff . 
Organization, 27, 41, 42. 
Overlapping, 234 ff. 
Ownership, 57, 257 ff. 

Perception, 66, 67, Chapt. 5, 195 

ff. 
Pillsbury, W. B,, 16, 85, 126, 150, 

177, 194. 
Plateau, 204 ff. 
Play, 53 ff., 258, 259. 
Pons, 18, 19, 20. 
Psychology, definition of, 3, 4. 

Beading, Chapt. 16, 328 ff. 

Seasoning, Chapt. 8, 262 ff., 305. 

Recall, 217. 

Recency, 112, 272. 

Reflex action, 35, 43, 

Repetition, 207 ff., 271. 

Retina, 69. 

Rhythm, 292 ff. 

Rivalry, 57 ff. 

Rolando, 30, 32. 

Royce, J., 8. 

Rugg, H. A., 223 ff. 

Rules, 284. 

Saturation, 77. 

Self, 134 ff., 188 ff. 

Sensation, 35, Chapt. 4, 74, 86, 

89. 
Sensitivity, 5, 309. 



INDEX 



339 



Sensorimotor arc, 24, 26, 33, 34, 

35, 41, 42, 
Sensory areas, 30, 31, 32. 
Skin-sensations, 84. 
Space, 92 ff. 
Specialization, 6. 
Spelling, Chapt. 17, 59. 
Spinal cord, 18, 24, 27. 
Spontaneous, 164 ff. 
Stages of development, 250 ff. 
Starch, D., 228, 236, 246, 277, 

285, 307. 
Static Sense, 82. 
Stimulus, 17. 
Stout, G. F., 85, 159, 177, 187, 

194. 
Study, 149. 
Subconsciousness, 137. 
Suggestion, 191. 
Suzzallo, H., 285, 307. 
Sylvius, 30. 
Synapse, 23, 27, 42, 59. 

Tachistoscope, 264 ff. 
Tallying, 297. 
Tapping, 256 ff. 
Teaching, 12, 40. 



Telegraphy, 202 ff. 

Terman, L. M., 232. 

Tests, 233 ff., 320 ff. 

Thalamus, 18. 

Thinking, Chapt. 8, 213, 302. 

Thorndike, E. C, 17, 25, 64, 228, 

241 294. 
Threshold, 208 ff. 
Thompson, M. E., 294. 
Tidyman, W. F., 285. 
Trial and error, 198 ff. 286 ff., 

313 ff. 

Unity, 86, 92. 

Vision, 67 ff. 
Vividness, 113 ff., 271. 
Voluntary action, 137, 165, 
Chapt. 11. 

Waddle, C. W., 159, 263. 

Whipple, G. M., 105. 

White matter, 26. 

Whole and part learning, 214 ff. 

Will, 186, 193, 209 ff. 

Writing, 278, Chapt. 18. 



